Perception is Everything
by Momo52
Summary: The Chitari are gone, Loki's in prison, and the worlds safe. Right? Not just Earth is in trouble again but the fate of Asgard is at stake when politics, alien armies, and an old enemy threaten the Nine Realms. The Avengers learn that perception is everything and certain events, recent and old, can be misleading when told from different points of view.
1. Twilight Of The Thunder God

A deep chill ran up his spine as Thor stood on the balcony, looking out at the night sky with a shining city standing tall and beautiful underneath it. He gazed up at the stars and watched the twinkling lights blaze next to the colorful galaxy's that painted the sky of Asgard. Many a people had said that there was no other sky that could compete to Asgards. Its nights were truly something to behold, drawing people far and wide just to witness one glorious night underneath the famous view.

He frowned. The night sky was something Thor had always taken for granted just like many other things in his life. Growing up as royalty makes one blind to the evils and hardships of the world, making it so that once grown the harsh reality of life seems even crueler. Having everything he had ever wanted handed to him literally on a silver platter had made Thor happy, but also made him ignorant of reality.

Recently Thor had learned that you can't have everything you want and many others have even less then him.

He turned his gaze down to the golden city and thought of the many people living inside of it. Asgard was a place of great prosperity and riches but even then there were still people who struggled on a daily bases whether it be through poverty, sickness, or oppression. While the great city was still a symbol of power and wealth to all the Nine Realms it was definitely lacking in other areas.

Asgardians were famous for the stubbornness they presented and being stuck in their ways. While this was once something to help preserve their civilization Thor began to wonder if it was not now holding them back. Midgard was a prime example of the opposite. Just look at them in the past one hundred years, they had come so far because they welcomed change whereas Asgard turned its back on it like the plague. Because of this not only was the city suffering but so were its people.

Being different wasn't exactly an excepted thing in Thor's home. While he himself wasn't so close minded towards originality, after all one of his best friends is a female warrior, the rest of his people turned their backs on anyone that didn't fit into their perfect little world.

But of course he never saw this. Always blind, he was, even if it happened right in front of him. In hindsight, Thor couldn't understand how he didn't notice the oppression that happened to so many people. But now that he was thinking about it he began to wonder if he truly didn't see it or he just ignored it. He remembered one girl when he was younger and how badly she was treated by her fellow Asgardians. Thor and his friends had befriended her but none of them did anything to stop how badly she was treated by others. In fact at times they even mistreated her. But she wasn't the only one. His brother was also like her.

Loki was always different but Thor never paid much mind to that. Yes he teased him from time to time because of it, which probably didn't help things, but he always loved him. Loki was his brother, why wouldn't he love him? Why wouldn't _everybody_ love him? Yes he preferred magic to swords but Loki had always been the kinder, gentler prince.

Thor remembered as they were children how Loki always had this look about him as if each new thing he came across or learned was a treasure. That was another difference between the two; royalty never seemed to affect Loki. He was able to see the beauty in the tiniest things and never took anything for granted and one of these things just so happened to be the night sky.

Loki loved the stars when they were young and would oftentimes wake Thor up in the middle of the night just to look at them. He would always wake up in a foul mood and complain about the late hour but occasionally he would stay up with his younger brother and keep him company as the two told stories all night and dreamed of traveling to the furthest star. Yet another thing Thor took for granted.

He never truly cherished the peaceful time spent with his brother while Loki seemed to relish in each moment he got to spend in the presence of him. But how was he supposed to know that one day his baby brother would turn bitter and have as much hate for his older brother as the love he once held?

It broke his heart. If he had done things differently then maybe he wouldn't be standing there alone and thinking about how badly things had turned out. Maybe instead he'd be standing next to not only his brother but Jane as well. Yet another person Thor loved who admired the stars.

With a small smile Thor wondered how she would react to seeing Asgard's stars. She'd squeal with delight no doubt. He gave a small chuckle. She'd probably ask him a million questions about them too, all of which he'd have no answer too. No, that would have been Loki who had all the answers. They probably would have spent hours talking about the different constellations and got no sleep while he would have stayed up all night with them, not knowing what they were saying but being perfectly content in watching two of the people he cared for most.

Sadness washed over him once more for all of this was not to be. Loki was in prison and Jane was still on Midgard. And Thor was standing there, on a balcony, alone, with no way of getting back to his love and no way of helping his brother.

"You think you can think a little quieter? I could practically hear you all the way down the hall."

Thor turned around to find Sif standing in the doorway fully dressed in her armor with her arms crossed over her chest. He gave a small smile at his friend.

"Sif. What are you doing here?"

She began to walk towards him, letting her arms fall to her sides. "Well I was heading to the training room but then I saw the door open and found you here, thinking. You know that can be awfully dangerous when it comes to you."

He laughed. Yes, they all knew how when he began thinking he got all of them into trouble. One of his bright ideas was what had gotten them all into their latest problem and landed his brother in jail. "You don't have to tell me."

He frowned again and turned back to the sky. This did not go unnoticed by Sif who was watching her friend closely. She turned towards the view too and the two stood there in silence before Sif spoke again.

"Is it the mortal woman or your brother that troubles you so? Or both?"

Thor turned back towards Sif, startled that she could so easily read his mind. His mother often times told him that he was an open book, wearing his heart on his sleeve from an early age while Loki kept every emotion bottled up inside.

"Am I really that easy to read?" he asked.

"You're kidding right?" she laughed. "Even Fandral and Volstagg can tell what you're thinking half the time."

Thor furrowed his brow and turned back to the sky. "That's not a good thing for a future king."

Sif sighed; she did not want to upset Thor again. She only meant it in jest but obviously in the state he was in such simple jabs would not work.

"No I suppose not. But at least you have emotions."

She did not have to say Loki for him to know who she was referring to. But Thor knew that was not true. Just because he hid his emotions well didn't mean he had none. No, that would probably be better because then he wouldn't have acted so rashly in his rage and hatred.

"Come on," Sif motioned towards the door with her head, "Let's go train. You shouldn't be up here all alone, brooding over things that aren't your fault or are out of your control."

He sighed. She was right. It was doing him no good staying up here all alone. So he conceded and began to walk with her. They got as far as half way down the hall before they heard rapped footsteps hurriedly coming from behind them. They turned to find a guard rushing up to them and stopping in front of them before bowing.

"Your highness," gasped out the guard as he straightened up before the two.

"What is it?" asked Thor. He looked at the guard and noticed that his hands were shaking and he looked pale. Something was wrong.

"Your father, he requests your presence with the prisoner immediately."

Thor and Sif looked at each other and froze. The Prisoner. Loki. What could possibly have happened that caused this guard to look so startled and make Odin demand for his immediate presence?

Without another word the two swiftly strode off down the hall, leaving the guard in their dust. Perhaps Loki was trying to escape or maybe he had somehow attacked one of his guards. Thor's heart fell into his stomach as he wondered if his brother had decided to give up instead, seeing no other way out he decided to do the unthinkable.

No, he must not think that way. While Loki was not Asgardian by blood, he was just as stubborn as any other and Thor knew his brother would not take that route.

Soon the two found themselves in front of the entrance to the dungeons deep underneath the castle where they met Odin, Frigga, and a couple other guards. Stopping in front of the king and queen they could tell that something was definitely wrong. Frigga looked near tears while even Odin couldn't completely hold back his emotions by the harsh furrow of his brow and the white knuckled grip he had on Gungnir.

"Mother, Father. What is it?"

"It's your brother," spoke Frigga, "he…he is having problems."

Thor frowned. He was confused. Of course his brother was having problems. That is why he was down here and not off somewhere in the castle.

"What do you mean?"

"He won't stop screaming," said Odin. "He acts as if he is in pain."

Thor could see the hurt in his eyes as he said this. Even if Loki was now a criminal, he still is Odin's son and what father isn't pained when they see their child hurting?

"We have tried talking to him but nothing works. He acts as if we are not there and he can't hear us. Which in all honesty that is a probability, if he's in as much pain as he looks." Odin turned his sorrowful gaze to the doors behind him, probably watching his son in his prison cell.

"But that doesn't make any sense," Sif finally spoke up. "No one has been to see him, how could he be in pain?"

"That's something that I would like to know too, Lady Sif," Odin looked almost menacing at this. The anger was clearly plastered across his face at the mere thought of someone harming his youngest son.

Thor agreed with his father but at this he was still confused. "But why am I here?"

Frigga's eyes softened at his confused look. She walked up to him and placed her hand upon his cheek. "Oh Thor. If anyone will be able to reach him and get a response out of him it is you." She gave him a sad looking smile.

Thor thought about what his mother had said and disagreed with that statement. Yes, Loki would probably respond most to him out of anyone in Asgard currently, mainly because of the hatred Loki held for his brother, but he was only the second best person for this job. No, the first was nowhere to be found and hadn't been seen for centuries.

Shaking his head to get those thoughts out of his head, Thor looked down at his mother. "You're right. I'll do it."

She nodded her head and turned to her husband who silently opened the doors to the dungeons below. The four walked through the doors with the guards following close behind. As they went deeper and deeper Thor could hear the faint sounds of screams of pain making its way up to him. Sif and Thor gave each other a worried and unsure look at this.

Soon they had reached their destination and all four stood outside a highly guarded door with strangled screams coming from behind it. Thor's breath hitched in his throat when he heard the noises. The sound of his brother in such pain, despite all the wrongs he had committed, was torture.

Taking a deep breath, Thor turned to his father and nodded, giving Odin the signal to open the door. The Allfather then slammed Gungnir on the floor, which caused the door to open to them.

Thor swallowed and stepped forward into the dimly lit room. The walls were completely bare, the only source of light coming through the doorway, casting small shadows on the opposite wall from his silhouette. He looked around the room to find only a small rickety bed to the left of him where a small heap was on top, shaking slightly with moans coming from it. Thor approached the bed and as he got closer, he could more distinctly make out the shape of his brother.

Loki's back was turned towards Thor while he clutched his knees to his chest with his left hand and dug his right into his head. Such force was put into his right hand that Thor could see small ringlets of blood protruding from where his brothers' nails dug into his skin and scalp. His eyes were tightly shut and his face was contorted in pain as he shook. Thor took a hesitant step closer to his brother, unsure of how to proceed and what to do.

Then suddenly Loki cried out in pain causing him to release his knees and turn over onto his back, arching up off the bed as the balls of his feet dug into the bed. Thor gasped and ran to his brothers' side in an attempt to comfort him.

"Brother, brother! It's alright, I'm here. It's Thor!"

But Loki didn't seem to have heard his brother or even register his presence as he thrashed left and right. His breathing was heavy and irregular and sweat clung to all parts of his body.

"Brother please, talk to me! What is the matter?" Thor was frantically trying to hold his brother down and get a response from him. But none came. Loki continued to scream and thrash about on his bed with his eyes tightly shut.

Then suddenly he stopped. Loki lay limp upon his bed as the last of his screams echoed out the room and down the hall. Thor held his breath, waiting for his brother to move. When he did nothing, the prince turned and looked at the startled eyes of his parents and Sif. Odin began to slowly move toward his sons before he kneeled down in front of the bed.

"My son- " and that's when he was cut off as Loki's eyes shot open. His face contorted into a mask of fear and anguish as his unseeing eyes gazed up to the ceiling. With his hands he frantically dug into the covers as he shook. Odin gently but forcefully unclasped his sons left hand and took it instead. Loki made no move to push it away but instead clutched onto it instead just as fiercely.

Thor sat on the bed not knowing what to do or how to help his baby brother. Unbeknownst to Thor and Odin, Frigga had come to their side as well to stare mournfully at her son. Sif stood back slightly so but still close enough to see the fallen prince in agony. She might have only held ill-will towards the man but at that moment she only felt pity.

Thor stared at Loki's face and then gasped when his eyes began to change.

"Look!" His eyes began to change from the sky blue that they had been to complete black, even the whites of his eyes. As this happened Loki struck his head back into his pillow, arching up off the bed once more, letting loose a high-pitched scream.

He then lay back on the bed after a second and went quiet, his eyes then turned into a deep green before rolling back into his head and losing consciousness.

"What happened Odin?" said Frigga in s shaky voice as she kneeled down beside her husband and took her sons hand away from him.

"Why did his eyes change color like that?"

"I do not know," said Odin, "But whatever has happened to him it cannot be good. Guard!"

One of the guards who was standing right outside the door stepped into the room albeit reluctantly and look at Odin.

"Yes your highness?"

"Take my son to the healing room and have him looked over while you and nine of your men stand guard over him."

The guard nodded his consent and ordered some of his men into the room to carry the prince to the healers. Thor and his parents stood back to allow them to do their job, all following out the doors as they left.

None said a word as they walked through the dungeons until the doors leading down closed behind them.

"Father, will he be alright?"

Odin came to a stop and turned towards Thor. The guards continued down the hallway with Frigga following close behind. Sif stood close by and watched the two concerned men.

"I do not know, Thor. But we must wish for the best for there is not much more we can do until we find out whom or what has done this to Loki."

Thor gave a small nod to his father before the Allfather turned around and continued down the hall after his son and wife.

Thor stood there in the middle of the hall as he watched his father turn the corner and vanish from sight.

"It'll be alright Thor. I hate to admit it but Loki is strong and will pull through whatever alignment plagues him whether it be through his willpower or magic." Sif clasped Thor's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze for support.

Thor, still staring down the hall, sighed. "I hope you are right Sif."


	2. Dream Operator

Hello readers! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

And I would also like to thank those who have favorited and are following this story, it warms my heart to know there are those out there who have taken an interest in my story.

I would like to try and give a little call out to everybody and motivate them to review but if none do I will still try to get chapters up as soon as possible. I am shooting for a chapter a week but since I am also a full time student and have a job, updates might not be as frequent. Otherwise, check back on Wednesdays because those are the days I have the most amount of free time.

* * *

The lightning strikes.  
A strengthening roar of vengeful thunder,  
with an aim for terror.  
A craving justice.

Overwhelmed with power.  
Fearless grunts.  
A God to many, Myth to others.  
Inspiration for battle.

Only one can hold such a Hammer.  
A loyal weapon.  
The symbol of strength.  
Of courage, of honour.  
One could not forget, such a mighty symbol.

Rejection to fear.  
Claiming his freedom.

The holder of this Hammer.  
The holder of my faith.  
The strong an true.  
_The Thunder God_

Kelly L "The Thunder God"

Loud thunder rips through the starless night sky, causing the whole building to rumble and the glass of the windows to shake. The whistling storm draws closer and closer to shore with harsh waves that lap at the cliff under the house. There lies a man within, restless in his bed, nightmares and memories plaguing his sleep.

_A pale women stands underneath a tall Ash tree that stretches high and wide; its roots extending up out of the ground and out towards the blue ocean it leans over. The woman has long white hair, as light as the snow, with deep blue eyes the color of the sea. The dress she wears is also white that flows behind and around her clear down to her feet but leaving her arms and neck bare. Her face is fair and features divine. The woman gazes up through the branches to the heavens to see a cloudless sky, as if looking or waiting for something. She turns her head to look at a man standing off to the side; a sad smile grows upon her face at his sight._

_In the distance on a green hill stands a cabin. Smoke billows out through the chimney despite the warm air and high sun. Not much more can be seen of the cabin due to the distance but a feeling of safety and security overcomes the man at its sight. _

"_They're waiting for you." The voice of the woman is soft and sweet, one that soothes the soul at the mere sound of it._

_The man turns back to look at her to find her looking at the cabin too. Her eyes had taken on a look of even more sadness but she still smiled and had that sorrowful look._

"_But you cannot go to them. Not yet." The man felt sad at this prospect but he did not know why._

_The woman looked back up and the man does the same. This time there are grey clouds forming overhead, with a soft rumble growing in the distance._

"_A great storm draws near. Preparations must be made for its approach."_

_When the man looks back down, it was to find the woman standing directly in front of him. She reaches up and strokes his hair, pulling a strand behind his ear. The man says nothing as well as the woman. All she does is offer a small smile before leaning up to give a faint kiss upon his forehead._

**Bang!**

Loud thunder cuts through the sky, knocking the walls together and waking the man from his dream. Tony sits up quickly and frantically looks around him before realizing he is in his bedroom in Malibu. He sighs and runs his hands down his face and through his hair.

"Geez Thor, ya think you can keep it down?" he grumbles to himself and gets up off the bed to stretch.

Turning to the clock he sees that it's only 3:30 in the morning. He scowled at the time. Pepper would not get back until 9 that morning from her trip to New York. Working on the rebuilding of Stark Tower in New York and the five others they had planned in other cities was a long and tiring job. One which Pepper was very good at when it came to the planning and legal part with the mile high paperwork that comes with.

Tony walked to the window to look out at the agitated waters beneath him. He gave a sneer before walking away to pick up his discarded shirt that he left on the floor the night before.

"A great storm draws near, my ass. It's already here lady."

The dream Tony had was not a new one. In fact it was one he had had ever since a boy. Except over the year's small things changed. Mostly it was just what the blonde woman under the tree would say. Granted it was never much and always cryptic, there was still a little bit of variety.

Sometimes she said nothing at all and would only sit or stand there and look up to the sky, out across the ocean, or at Tony. The last one kind of unnerved him because when she did that it was always with that same sad look in the dream except almost as if she was looking at him in disappointment. When she did that if felt like she could see right through to his soul, making him feel like a small child being criticized by his mother.

There were a few occasion, however, when the look was only sadness. That usually happened sometime after a great tragedy occurred in his life while the disappointing look occurred after some stupid mistake Tony made. She almost always was sad though, there were a few times that she seemed content and almost happy underneath that tree.

Tony chalked it all up to his unconscious trying to tell him something or comfort him. He had to admit, he did have nice taste because the woman was definitely beautiful. Although the weird part about it was he was never attracted to her. Of course, while there was still some sort of deep emotional attachment to the woman it was never romantic. But none of that really mattered anyways because she was only a dream.

Tony sighed and walked out his room to go to his lab. He knew he wasn't going to get back to sleep with the weather but needed to get his mind off of the dream. And the best way to do that was to work on his suit or tinker with one of his cars in order to keep busy.

Tony knew why he'd had the dream because he'd been having it frequently ever since New York. It seemed that he just couldn't rest after the invasion especially when Pepper wasn't there. When Pepper was there and he'd wake up after a nightmare she'd always be able to get him back to sleep with time. Most nights when he was alone, however, the dreams he had were from the actual battle or memories from his time as a hostage in Afghanistan. After that and without Pepper to comfort him he never got back to sleep. He supposed he could only be thankful that this night without Pepper brought the dream of the woman underneath the Ash tree instead. Although, it still always brought with it a feeling of sadness and unease every time after he had it and he'd never get any rest after, too.

Tony took a quick swig of some whiskey in an attempt to pull him from those thoughts and make him focus on his Iron Man suit instead.

In no time at all it seemed Jarvis was talking to Tony and snapping him from his almost daze like state while working.

"Sir, it is 8 a.m. Don't you think it is time for you to get ready before Miss Potts gets back from her trip?"

"Thanks Jarvis." He quickly finished up the job he was doing before leaving the lab. Tony walked into the bathroom to clean up and then get dressed. Once he was done he went to the kitchen to wait for Pepper.

He decided to try and attempt to make pancakes for himself and Pepper and by the time she got to the house and tried the failed breakfast only to make some herself, he'd be hungry enough to eat. Perfect plan.

Tony was just finishing up with the food and placing the pancakes onto two plates when he heard the familiar sound of Peppers high-heels approaching.

"And there she is, Miss Pepper Potts. Even more beautiful than ever." Tony walked around the table to give her a deep kiss.

"Well isn't that a nice welcome." She smiled at her lover with her arms around his neck.

"And it gets better, I made you breakfast."

"Is it anything like the breakfast you made me after Monte Carlo when Vanko attacked you?" She walked closer to the table and bent over to look at the pancakes set out for her.

"Yep, just like that." She smirked before picking up the two plates to throw the food in the trash. She then proceeded to collect the ingredients to make pancakes herself.

"You wound me. I tried very hard on that."

"Oh sure you did. You didn't make those pancakes at all in an attempt to get me to do it myself." She couldn't keep the smile off her face at the fake hurt expression on Tony's face.

"Dear God, Pepper. You wound me again. It's like you just keep stabbing me with a sharp knife in my heart. You know, if I had one." With that Tony tapped the arc reactor in the middle of his chest as if to prove a point.

"Oh shut up and pass me the milk."

"So, how did New York go?" He asked while at the fridge getting out the milk.

"It went fine. Stark Tower is coming along nicely and should be up and running within the next couple months if you come out and help with the reconstruction."

Tony gave a noise of agreement and sat down. "Shouldn't be long then before we can start working on the others. I think we should start the one in L.A. first since it'll be closest and then move on to Chicago."

"Sounds good. But I think we should start the one in D.C. as soon as possible. If nothing else it'll help with your image with the politicians and after New York they hate you more than ever." Pepper began pouring the mix into the fryer and Tony gave a humorless laugh at this.

"You'd think that after I saved their asses both literally and figuratively because of the backlash _they_ would have received if they had actually nuked the city, they'd be more grateful."

"It comes with the job, Tony. Especially when the entire world knows who you are after you publically revealed yourself to be Iron Man." At that she gave him a pointed look.

"Oh come on, you know I wouldn't have lasted long with keeping Iron Man a secret. It's not in my nature!"

Pepper only shook her head and continued with the food.

"You do realize you're not the only one the entire world has strong opinions of. It's just the rest of the Avengers are all unknown to everyone so they have to target someone."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm the richest so Fury isn't exactly stepping in when New York is demanding compensation for the damages."

"Something like that." Pepper smiled and placed the last of the pancakes onto one of the plates. She carried the two over to the table and sat down. Tony followed suit and sat next to her, reaching for the syrup and butter.

The two continued to eat breakfast and talk. Not once did Pepper ask if he had had any more nightmares for which he was grateful and he never told her. They were perfectly content on just eating and talking about other things without having to bring up the troubles that constantly bothered Tony.

After they were done eating, Pepper got up to go take a shower while Tony put the food away and the plates in the sink.

"Sir, there is an incoming call for you."

"If it's Fury tell him I'm not here."

"No it's the Shady Oaks Retirement home that's located in Santa Rosa, California."

Tony scrunched up his face in confusion. He'd never even heard of the place before. "Retirement home? Why the hell would they be calling me?"

"I haven't the faintest idea, sir."

"Well you're no help. Put them through."

A man's deep voice could be heard in the kitchen, one that Tony had never heard before.

"Hello? Mr. Iron Ma-I mean Tony Stark, sir?"

"The one and only."

"Hi, my name is George Carlson. I'm a nurse at Shady Oaks Retirement home. I was wondering if you knew a man by the name of Neil Boggess?"

"Boggess. The name sounds familiar. Why?"

"Because he is a resident here at our establishment. He says that he knew you and your father."

"Well if he's old enough to be in an old-folks home then that would make sense why he knew my dad and why he sounds familiar."

"So you do know him?"

"Yeah I guess. Don't fully remember. Why?"

"Well that's kind of complicated. You see, he's been here for about seven years after his kids couldn't take care of him anymore due to his Alzheimer's. He hasn't been able to remember much of anything because of it but every now and then he has moments of remembrance and understanding with varying degrees. After 2008 when you , uh, when you went on T.V. and told everyone you were Iron Man, he started asking for you, said he needed to speak with you. However, his children informed us to _not_ contact you whenever that happened. "

"So why are you calling me now?"

"Because, Mr. Boggess is reaching the end of his rope and we don't know how much longer he has. And seeing as his wife died years ago, both his children are too busy, and all his grandkids live too far away to come see him one more time I decided to call you."

"Breaking the rules, huh, Georgy?"

"Yeah, I am. Mr. Boggess was always a kind man and I decided that it didn't matter what his kids wanted since they never really seemed to care in the first place. So I finally decided to call you."

"Better late than never I suppose. But what exactly do you want me to do? Come see a dying man I don't even remember?"

The man could be heard as he sighed. "I know it's a lot to ask but I don't know if I could have lived with myself knowing that the one thing that Mr. Boggess only ever seemed to care about when he was himself was getting a hold of you. You don't have to come out here, hell, even if you do I don't know if he'd recognize you or be able to tell you whatever it was he always seemed to think was so important. But…I just thought I should let you know."

"Well thanks, I guess. I'll think about it."

"Thank you Mr. Stark. You don't know how much it means to me and Mr. Boggess. Oh and Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah?" Now the man sounded nervous, almost hesitant.

"It's just my son is a huge fan of you and the rest of the Avengers. I told him I'd be calling you and he wanted me to tell you how much you mean to him."

Tony chuckled and couldn't help but smile.

"Tell your kid, thanks and that Iron Man says hi."

"Thank you Mr. Stark." George sounded pleased before he finally hung up.

Tony stood there for a few more seconds before hearing a voice from behind him causing him to jump.

"You going to go see him?"

Tony turned around to find Pepper standing in the doorway with her hair wet and in new clothes.

"I don't even know the man. Why would I?"

"Because he knows you and your Iron Man."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Pepper smiled and walked towards him to wrap her arms around him. "You're Iron Man which means you have an obligation to the people and you're supposed to help."

She kissed Tony on the lips before pulling away and walking to the sink to clean the dishes.

"Sooo…I'm Iron Man. Which means I have to go put on a show for senile old people in homes to cheer them up before they die?"

Pepper scowled at him and lightly slapped him across the chest. "That's not what I meant. The man knows you and you know him. He has no family that will see him, just go visit for an hour or two."

"I don't actually know the guy, I remember hearing the name from somewhere or other, probably from my dad since he says he knew the guy. But that doesn't mean_ I_ knew _him_."

"Still, promise you'll think about it?"

"Fine, I'll do what I told Georgy, I'll think about."

Tony walked off and down towards his lab to go work more on his Iron Man suit. But as he worked he couldn't help but think more on this Mr. Boggess. The man had him thinking about his father and how exactly they knew each other. Maybe they were business partners.

Pretty soon Tony found himself opening the chest that Fury had given him of his father's during the whole Vanko incident. He did that a lot, rummage through his dads possessions. It almost made him feel closer to his dad even if he wasn't there.

His dads' old journals and notebooks full of notes were what he looked at most. A couple weeks back he found one that he remembered reading but never realized was full of notes and research on the Cube or Tesseract as Thor called it.

It was a while later by the time Pepper came down too. "What are you doing?"

"Just looking through some of my dad's old stuff. There's a lot of shit in this thing. A lot of old files from SHIELD too, nothing important of course. Not that that matters, if I wanted juicy info on SHIELD I'd just use Jarvis and hack in."

"Very good sir."

Pepper smiled at that and picked up a random file on the ground and started looking through it. "So you trying to find if there's anything in here about the man at the retirement home?"

"Not really. Just looking through stuff mostly. If I was going to try and find anything in these old papers that has to do with Mr. Boggess I'd just have Jarvis scan them all and tell me if his name pops up anywhere."

"Well why don't you?"

"Because this is a box that has to do with SHIELD, why would there be anything that has to do with Mr. Boggess in here?"

"I don't know, maybe that's how your dad knew him?"

"Wouldn't he then be in some government retirement home somewhere?"

Pepper looked confused, "Government retirement home?"

"I don't know, it's SHIELD, I wouldn't put anything past them. And besides, wouldn't that be too much of a coincidence and farfetched?"

Pepper just looked at Tony. "Really?"

Tony chuckled, "Ok, so maybe that wouldn't be that farfetched but actually make sense after I found out my dad worked for SHIELD." Pepper snorted and looked back down at the file she was holding.

"Fine, I'll have Jarvis look through all the papers and see what he comes up with it. It's not like it can hurt."

The two collected all the files and journals and began to put them on one of Tony's high-tech tables in order for Jarvis to scan through them all. Tony walked to his computer to sit down when Jarvis alerted him he was done.

"Sir, I've found mentions of Mr. Boggess in some of your fathers SHIELD files."

"What?" Tony sat up straighter for he didn't expect the scan to turn up anything.

"Show me on the screen."

On Tony's computer screen was shown a file concerning SHIELD's high council which runs the organization. They were even higher up then Fury and were the ones who had ordered the nuke on New York City.

"The file states, sir, that Mr. Neil Boggess joined the SHIELD council in 1957 and retired the year of 1990 at 65 years of age."

"SHIELD high council? He was in charge of SHIELD?" Pepper stood behind Tony's chair and looked astonished.

"Looks like you were right Pepper. Jarvis, delete all the files of the scans you just took, I don't want Fury finding out about this."

"Yes sir." Tony got up and began picking up all the papers on the table and began placing them back in his father's chest.

"So I take it you're going to go to that retirement home."

"Sure am. If this guy was part of SHIELD, part of SHIELD's council no-less, and has wanted to talk to me for the past five years, despite his Alzheimer's, it's got to be important."

"I'll call and get the jet ready for tomorrow morning."

"Thanks Pepper." She came over and kissed Tony on the lips before walking off. She turned around one last time before leaving the room.

"I only hope that it won't be catastrophic or world-threatening."

Tony smirked, "With my luck it will be universe-threatening."

* * *

Sorry for the somewhat boring chapter. But I had to set up for the next chapter which will include both more of Tony and things going on in Asgard.

P.S. Anyone know the reference the retirement home is from?

See you all next week!


	3. Mo Chuisle

Hello readers! New chapter up and ready to go!

First, I'd like to give thanks to all of you who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story, it fills my heart with warmth. Especially to ArainaHaldthin who has done all three. Thank you so much. Now onwards with the story, I hope you all enjoy :)

* * *

Darkness. Darkness was the first thing he was aware of. Nothing else, not even a sliver of light anywhere. It made him feel lonely and cold. And that was the next thing he realized, that he was cold.

That feeling in it of itself is not a strange occurrence, but for this individual it was. The crisp bite of a chilly night was something he was unaccustomed to. He hardly felt cold and when he did it was not as extreme as others. However, none of this crossed the man's mind. He only knew darkness and the cold and that for reasons beyond him that was strange.

A violent shiver ran through his body from head to toe, causing the man to groan in pain. The movements made him realize the stiffness of his muscles and throbbing soars that felt as if they covered his entire person. The tenderness of his limbs made him begin to panic for he did not know the cause of the pain nor did he know where he was.

He tried remembering back to what had happened but found he couldn't remember anything. The fear he was feeling began to rise and he felt himself take uneven breathes that he could not control. Thinking on even the icy temperature became hard as his mind became erratic and scattered while the panic set in.

He tried desperately to find and hold onto any one thought when it finally hit him.

_Loki_.

That is his name. He did not know how he knew this or even who he was. But he did know he had a name and it was Loki.

With that thought his mind became more organized making it easier to process his surroundings and situation. He discovered that he was not really surrounded by darkness at all but merely had his eyes closed. He lifted his eyelids and looked around the room he was in. It was dimly lit and there was a curtain that surrounded him. A crack in the opening, however, revealed golden walls from the outside. He was lying upon a white bed with white sheets and a white pillow. His hands and feet, however, were changed to the bed in restraints of black.

When he looked through the crack again, he saw an elderly woman standing off in the distance in a long flowing dress talking to two men in full body armor with swords. The sight of the men and their weapons sent a shock of terror through him causing him to quickly shut his eyes.

Loki tried to keep his breathing steady in order to keep up the appearance that he was asleep but found it more difficult than he had expected. He knew the men were there for him otherwise he wouldn't have been chained to the bed. The why was what he couldn't remember though. What he did know was that he had to get out of there and escape those men.

No sooner had he thought it then the chains quietly opened and unlocked. Loki opened his eyes to find them loosely wrapped around his limbs but a slight crack could be seen at the opening. This boggled Loki's mind, had he done that? He couldn't remember.

He decided it was something to ponder at a later date, now he had to get out. He turned at the sound of approaching footsteps and found the woman walking towards his bed with the men following. Quickly closing his eyes again, Loki waited in anticipation.

"No, I will go in myself," a soft voice reached Loki's ears which he assumed to belong to the woman. She must be talking to the men with the weapons.

"With all due respect Lady Eir, we cannot do that. He is too dangerous."

"Dangerous? Did you not chain him to his bed already?" The woman, Lady Eir he figured, sounded agitated at the men.

"Well yes my Lady, but he is a tricky one. Who knows what he will-"

The woman cut him off at this, "Tricky yes, dangerous so I've heard, all powerful? I don't think so. Those cuffs are reinforced with magic supplied by Odin himself, he will not be able to escape or harm me."

Odin? That name sounded familiar. But he could not place how he knew it. But obviously from Lady Eir's words he was a powerful man, so why could he open the chains? Nevertheless, this Odin was someone he knew he didn't want to come across because if he did then he might never get out of here.

Loki was broken from his thoughts when Lady Eir walked through the curtain and pulled it tightly shut behind her. He could hear the men on the other side of the curtain whisper quietly to themselves while the woman scurried around Loki's bed, handling what sounded like different bottles. Finally the men could be heard as they walked off down the room, leaving the two of them alone.

"Finally, some peace and quiet," whispered Eir. Obviously Loki was not the only one who was highly aware of the guards on the other side of the curtain, nor was he the only one displeased with their presence.

"I swear, how do they expect me to get any work done with them constantly breathing down mine and my healers necks." So she is a healer, thought Loki. He must be in a healing room which would explain the pain he felt. He then felt a cool cloth placed across his forehead, startling him, making it very hard for him to keep from flinching.

A small sigh came from Loki's left, "My dear, gone so far and by the time anyone discovered it was too late."

At first Loki was confused for he didn't know who the woman was talking to. He heard no others walk through the curtain but perhaps he was mistaken. Then he realized he was the one she was talking to. Did that mean she knew he was awake? No, the woman continued to work without speaking another word so she must just be talking mainly to herself. Loki opened his eyes just a crack to find the woman with her back turned to him.

He quickly leaped off the bed and wrapped one arm around her waist, holding down her arms, and with the other covered her mouth before she could call out. She looked up into his eyes with a look of pure terror etched across her face. Her deep blue eyes cut through to his soul making him lose his breath.

"_Now, now, it's alright little one. There's no reason to cry." A woman with light blonde hair pulled back into a neat bun sat on a bed with a small boy next to her, holding his arm as it bled out. Tear tracks ran down his cheeks and his dark black hair was in disarray as was his clothes. The woman got up to walk to a table full of different looking bottles in an assortment of colors and walked back to the sniffing child._

"_Here we go, let me see it." She talked to the boy in a soothing voice and gently pulled back the sleeve of the injured arm. A deep gash was reveled and the boy whimpered in pain at the slight movement._

_The woman tsked at the wound and shook her head. "Yes that looks real nasty, but no bother. We'll fix it right up." She offered a small smile to the boy who continued to cry quietly. At the reassuring look she gave him he whipped his good arm across his face and smiled weakly up at the kind women._

Loki was thrown back to the present to find the same woman but only older with gray hair instead of blonde and a few wrinkles covering her face. She still looked terrified as her kind eyes were transformed to fear. She held her breath as the two looked at each other, waiting for the other to move.

Loki tentatively removed his hand from her mouth to move his index finger to his lips. She gaze a small nod to indicate she knew he wanted her to be quiet. Whatever he had done to put that look of fear on her face was the same one that kept her quiet. While this cut through him like a knife to butter he still used it to his advantage.

He quietly pulled her a couple steps over to his bed and sat her down. He gently grabbed her right wrist and began attaching one of the chains to her. He quickly moved to the next and did the same. When he was done he looked at the woman to find tears falling from the corners of her closed eyes.

"Now, now," Loki knelt down in front of the woman. She opened her eyes at the sound of his quiet voice, "There's no reason to cry." She raised her brows in a moment of understanding, remembering back to the same day that Loki was a child. This only caused more tears to run down her face which he lightly whipped from her cheek. She did not flinch from his touch, however, which made a small ounce of hope shine within him.

"I'm so sorry but I must go. Please forgive me." She did not say a word which he took as a good thing since it meant the guards would not be alerted to his escape. He tentatively parted the curtains slightly to find the guards on the other side of the room as well as all the healers he could see. To the wall closest to him was a door leading to a smaller room which he went straight for. He used the many curtains covering other beds as a means for cover and swiftly snuck through the door.

Inside was what he assumed to be a sort of office for the healers and at the back was a window. He ran to it and looked outside to find himself several stories up off the ground with a great and shining gold city in front of him. That's when he discovered that he must be inside some sort of palace or castle. Filing that away for later, he looked to the sides instead and saw a window close to his left which he knew to lead back to the healing room. There was one to the right, however, which was much further away but his only chance of escape. A small ledge ran underneath the windows, one that was not much more than a couple of inches wide. It would be very close but he knew it was his best bet.

Loki climbed out the window and positioned himself with his stomach up against the wall and the tips of his toes all that was touching the ledge. There was not much to hold onto as he slowly made his way towards the other window. That's when he heard shouts from behind him coming from the healing room. The guards must have discovered the healer and that he was missing. The shouts got louder and he knew they had entered the office. He held his breath in anticipation, waiting for one to stick his head out the window and discover his whereabouts. None did, however, and the shouts slowly began to fade into the distance.

Loki slowly continued his journey to the window and listened as many more voices passed by that one as well. Once he finally reached it he carefully looked into the palace and found the window was at the end of a long hallway. He hopped inside since no one was to be seen but could still hear shouts in the distance.

Loki snuck through the palace without knowing where he was headed but his body seemed to know the path just fine. He saw many groups of guards but none discovered him as he slipped into the shadows and around corners or into rooms. Once they would pass he'd continue on his trek with no problems.

However, this didn't last as long as he hoped for soon two people rounded a corner in the distance and spotted him, shouting and running towards him. One was a rather tall and muscular man with shoulder length blonde hair and a scruffy short beard to match. A red cape flowed behind him and intricate shining armor covered his chest. As a weapon a hammer was held in his hand with a short handle. The other was a woman with dark brown hair pulled back out of her face. She too wore elaborate armor but not as much as the male. Hers was lighter due to her small stature and a cape was absent unlike many of the guards he'd seen. He knew, however, she was still a warrior due to the sword strapped at her waist.

They were both warriors, in fact, but different from the others he'd came across. Their armor wasn't the same style and the way they held themselves was with an air of superiority and class. Loki quickly turned the other way and began to sprint as fast as he could. He let his body steer since he still did not know the way. The two warriors' footsteps could be heard as they followed him through the halls.

A group of six guards came running down the hall in which he was headed to, affectively blocking his way. Loki skidded to a stop and turned around to find the two other warriors stop as well.

"Loki, stop this madness. There is no escape," said the blonde-haired warrior. Loki stared at him, the man knew his name and he couldn't help but fell as if he knew him, now that he could see his face more easily.

Loki turned back to the six guards and watched their slow approach.

"You are surrounded, give up now," said the other man again. Loki turned to look at him and the woman and decided that he would not be able to fight the two. Even if there were more of the guards in front of him he knew that he had better chances of fighting them. With that in mind Loki turned to the guards and began running as fast as he could with his arms outstretched in front of him.

The closer he got the hotter his hands began to fell. Right before he reached the guards a blinding light covered the entire hallway before vanishing. Loki found he had closed his eyes and slowly opened them. All six of the guards were lying on the ground, unmoving while the two other warriors stood at the other end of the hall staring at the scene in front of them.

Panic began to seep back in at the sight of the men. Loki knew he had done it but did not know how. He feared for their lives but knew there was no time to do anything even if he knew how to help. So he took off running again and soon found himself outdoors. He didn't stop to figure out which way to run, taking a right and just sprinting through the trees.

He realized he was running through a garden with tall bushes that reached over his head, offering cover. It did not matter though for he could still hear the two warriors following behind as they shouted out his name. The voices eventually died down which confused Loki making him turn around as he kept running. There was no sight of the two which instead of giving him relief only made him panic more. When he turned back around he ran into something solid and fell to the ground.

Loki slowly picked himself up and raised his head to see what he hit. It was the blonde warrior. His hammer swung quickly over his head, slowing down before he rested it back at his side. The woman was holding onto him but let go to stand next to him. Loki could not figure out they made it in front of him, it made no sense.

"Loki, stop this. You will not win. We will take you back to the palace one way or the other." As the man said this he pointed his hammer at him threateningly, scowling all the while as the dark-haired woman slowly circled Loki to get on his other side.

Loki knew he was no match for the two especially with his aching body. If the two could appear in front of him out of nowhere that only proved his point that he would fail if he fought. Perhaps, he thought with a sinking heart, he should give up. Maybe it would be for the best.

_No. He had to get to Midgard._

The thought came from nowhere and he did not even know what or where this Midgard was but it motivated him to not surrender.

"I-I can't," he said tentatively. "I must go to Midgard."

The blonde man's face darkened at this. "I will not let you return to Midgard."

Loki gulped. The venom in the other man's voice was poisonous. At that moment he truly feared for his life. "But I must."

"Why?" Came the reply from the woman behind him. Her sword was drawn now and she too looked at him with a piercing gaze.

At first Loki had no answer, and then it just came to him. "Mo chuisle," he whispered.

The man looked confused, "What?"

"Mo chuisle," he said again but with more force. The meaning escaped him but when he said it it sounded right. "Mo chuisle needs me and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Loki took a deep breath and focused on the thought that he needed to get out of there. He ran towards the man and prayed he'd be able to do the same as before with the guards. A bright light engulfed the three of them but this time instead of stopping Loki continued running. He didn't turn back to see if he'd succeeded but figured at least something had occurred for they had not immediately caught him.

The sounds of the two soon reached him again signaling their recovery from whatever sort of magic Loki conjured. But this time he had a bigger lead. His feet carried him into a tightly knit batch of trees where he stopped at a large Ash tree in the center. A strange feeling washed over Loki as he stood in front of it and made him shiver.

He could not explain it but he felt almost as if the tree was calling to him, urging him to touch it. Loki lifted his shaking hand and brushed it against its rough bark. At first nothing happened but then the bark underneath his hand began to glow. His whole body began to feel as if it was being pulled towards the tree when he discovered it was being pulled towards the tree. Whooshing air zipped past him and leaves on the grassy ground whipped up and around the tree. The entire tree seemed to illuminate and shine brightly as it shook back and forth.

Loki tried taking a step back but couldn't move an inch. He almost called out for help from the two warriors when a soothing feminine voice entered his head and told him to not fear. He trusted this voice unconditionally and then decided to approach the tree instead. The last thing he heard from that world before he disappeared was the call from the blonde man shouting "Brother."

* * *

Tony sighed. He'd been waiting in the waiting room of the Shady Oaks Retirement home for twenty minutes now. He didn't understand why it was taking so long to contact the orderly George who he had spoken with on the phone the day before and set up a chat with Mr. Boggess. As he sat there waiting the receptionist kept glancing his way un-shamefully and began pouring herself a glass of water that ended up all on the floor. He sighed again; he could only hear Pepper's voice in his head saying this is what he deserved for announcing he was Iron Man all those years ago.

A beeping noise was heard at that moment coming from the door at the opposite end of the room and black man walked through. He was in his mid-thirties and had strong arms with a shaven head. His face looked kind especially when he offered a huge smile at the sight of Tony.

"Mr. Stark, I'm so glad you decided to come," he grabbed Tony's hand to shake as he stood up from his chair. "I'm George Carlson, the one you spoke to on the phone."

"Nice to meet you Georgy. Tell your kid I said hi?" George smiled at this and chuckled.

"Sure did, was overjoyed. Couldn't get him to sleep all night."

"Sorry 'bout that."

George chuckled again, "Oh don't be, you just made his week. Now when I get home tonight and tell him you were here you'll make his month."

Tony smiled, take that Pepper, there's a plus to having everyone know he's Iron Man too. George suddenly straightened his back almost as if he realized who he was talking to and why the man was there.

"So I suppose you want to meet Mr. Boggess now? Well right this way." George walked back to the door he came through and swiped a card, making the door beep again which he then opened. Tony followed the man through the door and down a hallway.

The retirement home was like most retirement homes, peaceful with white walls and many doors leading to different residents rooms. The two passed many different elderly men and women, walking down the halls with walkers and other orderlies, sitting in chairs or on couches, one couple was at a table playing chess. They finally came to a small room belonging to one of the residents.

"Here you go, this is Mr. Boggess room. You stay right in here while I go get him."

George walked off leaving Tony to himself. There wasn't a whole lot in the room, a bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and a plush chair next to the tiny window. There were pictures that covered the walls and a bookshelf. Some of the pictured were filled with what he assumed to be the man's children and grandchildren but most contained an elderly looking woman close to the same age as a man he deduced to be Mr. Boggess. One picture showed the two as very young, looking to be in their early 20's standing next together in wedding clothes. The woman must have been his late wife.

As he looked at the man the feeling of familiarity washed over him. Mr. Boggess had short brown hair in the picture with a square jaw and broad shoulders. Tony believed he remembered seeing the man a couple different times from his childhood but not much about who he was as a person.

Before he could think more on this anymore George walked back in the room slowly, supporting an elderly man that resembled Mr. Boggess from the pictures vaguely. Tony moved out of the way to allow George to place Mr. Boggess in the chair beside the window.

"There you go Mr. Boggess." George stepped aside and went to grab a knitted blanket off the man's bed to place it on him. "Nice and cozy."

George wasn't kidding when he told Tony he didn't have much time left, the man looked as if he could keel over and die any second. The man didn't seem to be very aware of his surroundings either because of the vacant expression he wore.

"Mr. Boggess, there's a visitor here to see you."

"Visitor?" His voice too was very shaky and sounded confused. Tony chose that moment to step up and extend his hand to the old man to shake.

"Howard, what are you doing here?" Tony stopped and looked at George questioningly. George sighed and whispered to Tony.

"He's got Alzheimer's which means he doesn't remember a whole lot especially when it comes to short term memory. He knew your dad a long time ago so he thinks you're him because he still remembers him, or at least for the time being. Don't be surprised if he forgets what you're talking about in the middle of a sentence or not recognize you at all."

Tony nodded his head and looked back at the old man who was staring absently out the window. George kneeled down next to him and told the man he was going to leave but if he needed anything just to call. He left without the man even giving an answer or making any indication he really understood what was said.

Tony sat down on the edge of the bed that was only a couple feet away from Mr. Boggess. His movement caught the eye of the man who stared at him for a couple seconds before speaking.

"Howard, what are you doing here?" Tony sighed, this was going to be harder than he thought. He offered the man one of his big smiles.

"Why, I'm here to see you of course." The man seemed confused again and unsure.

"Hhm, strange. I thought you were angry at me at our fight?"

"Angry, why would I be angry?"

Boggess sat there for a couple seconds contemplating this question before answering. "I don't remember."

He turned back to the window and watched the wind blow the branches in the trees back and forth. Tony looked around himself, unsure of how best to get any information out of the man.

"Soo, the food here any good?"

"Food?"

"Yeah, the food. Do they actually give you decent food here at the retirement home?"

"This is a retirement home?" At this Boggess seemed distressed which Tony realized was a mistake.

"Retirement home? No, where did you get that idea," he relaxed a bit at that. "No, this is just some old motel. I was wondering if they actually had good food."

"I don't really remember, now that you mention it."

"It's alright, it at least has got to be better than the shit SHIELD makes us eat, right?" Tony chuckled in an attempt to make the man at ease. Apparently it worked because he started to laugh too.

"Got that right. SHIELD is an expert at espionage and security but when it comes to cooking their entire brain goes to the shitter." Tony brightened at this because it meant Mr. Boggess had actually worked for SHIELD. He knew that his father's files said he had been but there was still a part of Tony that had doubts.

"But I suppose I'm just conditioned to be picky after eating Sherry's cooking every day." Tony assumed that was his late wife. He didn't know if at this point Mr. Boggess knew his wife was dead or not so he decided to avoid the topic all together. If the man became distressed over his wife being dead he might not talk at all.

Mr. Boggess sighed and seemed to deflate. "You know the two of us miss having you and Maria coming by sometimes for dinner."

The man actually seemed very distressed over this but Tony didn't know why. "Well we'll just have to stop by soon, you know Maria and how _her_ cooking is." It wasn't a lie; it was one of the things he remembered most about his mother, her horrible cooking.

Boggess didn't laugh, however, but continued to have a sad look on his face.

"Don't lie to me Howard, if you're planning on actually coming then says so, don't just say you will to get me out of your hair." Great, another person who his father neglected. How was he supposed to deal with this?

"I'm not lying Boggess, we'll actually show up."

"Boggess?" The man looked confused again, "You never call me Boggess?"

"Boggess? I didn't call you Boggess," Tony smoothly said. "I called you Neil like I always do."

He seemed to think this over and came to the conclusion that Tony was right and he was just confusing himself.

"Why do you say I'm just trying to get you out of my hair?"

"Because, that's what you've been doing since-" He trailed off and took on a far off look.

"Since what Neil?" Boggess turned back to Tony before a look of realization hit him.

"Howard, what are you doing here?" Tony got up and ran a hand through his hair. He could probably get more information out of Fury and he never tells Tony anything. He finally stopped and turned back to the old man.

"I'm here to see you, Neil."

"Oh really? That's nice." He turned back toward the window which frustrated Tony. He quietly sat down on the bed again before laying a hand on Boggess's arm.

"Neil, is there something you need to talk to me about?"

"Hhm?" He looked back at Tony with a questioning look.

"Something important maybe. Shelly said you did and that it might have had something to do with my son, Tony."

"Your son? Why would I have something to say about him. He's only six."

Nine, then he must think the year's 1971. "Well maybe it had something to do with me being angry with you."

"You're angry with me? Since when did that happen?" He must be going even further back in his memory now if he didn't remember some great big argument they had.

"Oh no reason." Tony sighed, he didn't know what to do.

"Oh wait, you must want those old pictures from your wedding I told you about. Yes they should be around here somewhere." He began looking around his room almost as if the pictures would pop out of nowhere. Tony looked over at the bookshelf and saw a shelf full of what looked like photo books.

"Over here?" Tony asked as he got up and walked to the shelf.

"Oh yes, there it is. They should be in the brown one." Tony picked up an old, worn looking book and pulled it off the shelf. He turned to the first page to find a picture of Boggess with his wife smiling at the camera underneath a tree. He turned a couple more pictures all of which were of Boggess and his family.

"I don't think this is it, these are all of you."

"Oh come here, bring it to me." Tony walked to the chair and handed it over to the old man. "Hhm, I think you grabbed the wrong one, Howard."

Boggess continued to flip through the pages looking at them all. "Oh look, Howard here you are."

He showed the picture to Tony to reveal his dad in a white lab coat and Boggess standing next together in a dark room with machines surrounding them. When Tony looked closely enough he could see a SHIELD insignia on his father's lab coat.

"Was this at SHIELD?"

"Hhm, I think it was." He turned the next page where a picture of five people stood next to each other with the SHIELD sign behind them. "Oh yes I do believe it was."

In the picture Tony spotted Neil standing on the end next to a rather old looking man with a stern face and graying hair. Next to that man, in the middle, stood a woman.

At first she seemed like any other woman but then once he really looked at the picture he realized it was the same woman from his dreams. Neil was about to turn the page again when Tony stopped him.

"Wait! Who's that woman?"

Neil squinted at the picture he was pointing to before taking it out. "Angie? Why you know Angie. She's only the godmother of your son." He passed the picture then to Tony for him to see closer.

"What?! Godmother?" Tony was shocked, he couldn't believe the woman was real let alone his godmother. He didn't even know he had a godmother.

"What happened to her?"

"What do you mean, what happened to her? She's at SHIELD. She's always been at SHIELD." Neil couldn't understand Tony's distress but of course he couldn't. He could only remember up to 1971.

"Look, Neil. You have to understand me. I'm not Howard but his son Tony. It's not the year you think it is, it's 2013. You're in a retirement home because you have Alzheimer's. I need you to remember what happened to that woman."

"Howard, what are you talking about? It's not 2013, are you feeling alright?"

"Peachy. Now I'm not Howard. I'm Tony, I'm Iron Man. You've probably seen me on the TV flying around saving the world and the whole shebang. You just can't remember."

"Howard, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything about…Iron…Man." Neil stopped and was looking straight ahead.

"Yes, yes, Neil. Iron Man, you remember who that is."

"Tony Stark, that's Iron Man," he whispered as he continued to stare.

"Yes, I'm Iron Man. You needed to tell me something, something important. Maybe something about that woman, Angie."

"SHIELD."

"Yes, SHIELD kind of goes along with all that."

"He needs to know. He must know."

"Yes, I get it. I need to know something, but what?"

"SHIELD isn't the same. They want him but he doesn't know the whole truth."

"Big secret agency's got secrets, that's also a given. But what secret's it keeping now?"

There was no response as Neil kept staring in front of himself. Tony waited for fear of the man losing his thought again. He finally decided to step in and wake the old man from his reverie.

"Neil. Yoo hoo," Tony snapped his fingers in front of Boggess, which caused him to flinch. He turned to Tony and shouted at the closeness of the two.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Boggess quickly stood up and stumbled into the window behind him, dropping the blanket and photo book onto the ground.

"Mr. Boggess, it's me, Tony Stark." Tony tried calming the old man but whenever he got close he only shouted and backed away. George came bursting through the door with a couple other nurses. They quickly ran to him, pushing Tony out of the way, and restrained the old man as a sedative was administered. George led Tony out of the room and closed it behind him.

"I didn't hurt him or anything. He just looked at me and began to freak out." Tony held up his hands in a defensive manner, hoping he wouldn't be thrown out because of the episode.

"No, no, I know. This isn't your fault. I should have realized something like this could have happened. Sometimes he doesn't remember anything at all and when that happens he panics. It's been happening an increasing amount of times lately." George sighed and ran his hand down his face in exhaustion.

"I'm sorry but you're not going to be able to see him the rest of the day. And I know it's not your fault but after this I don't know if my superiors are going to let you back in to see him again either." He said all this as he walked Tony down the hall and back to the door that led back to the reception room.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I really am," George shook Tony's hand and then swiped his card to let Tony out.

Once back outside and in the limo he had rented Tony finally uncurled his hand to look at the picture he still held. He looked at the woman and couldn't help but feel a sense of both dread and comfort. He had to find out who this woman was but he only feared where that would lead him.

* * *

Chapter 3 down. By the way, just an FYI, each of my chapters are song titles.

Chapter 1: Twilight of the Thunder God by Amon Amarth

Chapter 2: Dream Operator by Talking Heads

Chapter 3: Mo Chuisle by Airged Lamh

Anyways, thanks for reading! See you next week!


	4. Veil of Deception

Hello readers! Sorry about not updating last week but I had a bunch of appointments that day as well as studying for finals. But do not fret, for the semester is over which means now I only have work so I should have more free time. Anyways, here is the new chapter, enjoy!

* * *

Thor paced back and forth in an open room while Sif and the Warriors Three sat next to a fire, watching his progress. Thor could not sit still because of his anxiety over his brother. Loki had escaped only just that morning to what is believed Midgard.

Thor and Sif had been in pursuit when Loki ran into a field full of trees and disappeared with a blinding flash of white light. The two could not find the Trickster anywhere and after his comment of Midgard they came to the conclusion that must be where he had went.

The only problem was they couldn't get to Midgard, at least not right away. The powerful magic that Odin had summand last time to send Thor to Midgard was too much for the old king and would still take time in order to achieve such a task. The Tesseract was declared too dangerous by the Allfather as well as unstable. It was acceptable for Thor to use it the one time to get to Asgard but after the many years of tampering by the humans, the artifact had become unhinged. The safest option that they had of chasing after Loki was to wait for the Bifrost's completion.

Ever since Thor had destroyed the bridge to stop Loki, Asgard had been hard at work to repair their means of transportation. And after much work and magic, the job was almost done, the Bifrost was almost complete. The master builder reported that the bridge would be done in a couple days. The only problem was that in a couple days, Loki could have already done a substantial amount of damage to Midgard.

In his anger, as Thor passed a table in the middle of the room, he uplifted the furniture and began to tear it apart. His friends stood back in stunned silence as he vented out his frustration. Finally Sif decided to step in before the prince tore apart the entire room.

"Thor! Stop this!"

"Why? My brother is down on Midgard doing who knows what while I'm stuck up here!" Thor moved on to a couch and chairs off in one corner.

"Because this is pointless. This is of no help."

"Uh, Sif," Fandral tentatively approached his friend and placed his hand on her shoulder, "I think that maybe we should just leave him alone."

"Then what exactly do you suggest I do, Sif?" Thor finished with the chairs and turned towards the others, red faced and panting. "I can't just wait here till the builders say it's time to use the Bifrost. By then the damage could have already been done."

"Then what do you suggest?" asked Volstagg.

Thor looked at his friends and sighed. There was nothing he could do, only wait. He slowly walked towards the only window in the room and looked out over his kingdom. So much beauty and yet he still did not see it. His mind was on other matters.

"We could go see her." Thor turned around at the stoic and quiet man. Hogan never spoke unless it was important and he had taken careful consideration over each word.

"Her?" said Fandral, "Why do we need to go to her? What can she do?"

"Well she was always close to Loki while we were children. Maybe she knows something," said Volstagg in a hopeful tone.

"What would she have to offer though? We already know where he's gone and plus she'd been interrogated after Loki's fall." Fandral wasn't buying any of it. There wasn't anything thing that could be done, they just had to wait for the Bifrost.

"Yes, but that was to only see if she knew of any of his plans," came Hogan's reply. "At the time no one knew of his survival so it wasn't as pertinent. Now, we know. Maybe, she helped him."

"What, escape?" Fandral sounded scandalized.

"It would make sense," spoke up Thor. She was a powerful sorceress and seeress, granted not as much as Loki but the two were taught together. "She could have snuck into the palace and helped him escape today, how else could he have done it?"

"Maybe," thought Sif, "That's not all she knows or has done. Remember Thor, how Hemidell told us about Loki's secret passages. How they are still unknown, maybe she knows where they are at or knows how to travel through realms without the Bifrost."

Volstagg jumped up from his spot, excited, "Then we could travel to Midgard sooner and wouldn't have to wait for the Bifrost to be finished."

"But she would never help us." Hogan's response made Volstagg deflate.

"Then we'll just have to make her help us." Thor turned towards the door and strode out with a quickened step. "Come, let's go see our old friend Sigyn."

* * *

The five warriors rode their horses out of the city to the country side. Very few main gods lived in these parts, most living either in part of the palace or grand homes of their own close by. Mostly simple peasants or farmers lived in the country and hardly ever traveled to the capital. So when the four well known and legendary warriors passed by with the heir to the throne, all who were near to see couldn't help but stop and stare.

Thor had only ever been in the countryside a couple times, not finding much reason to travel there. It was not like the city which was full of people and life or the forests that were crawling with beasts and monsters where adventure awaited. Instead it was quiet and open, with rolling hills and green fields. The cottages were small and quaint, nothing like the city.

"How she can live out here, I'll never know," said Fandral, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Soon the five saw a much larger house in the distance, atop a wide hill with a grand garden surrounding it. Of course, in contrast to the homes of the mighty gods in the city it was nothing, compared to all the other country homes it was a palace.

"Kinda small for a god, don't you think?" said Volstagg.

Sif scoffed at the comment, "A little grand for a traitor, don't you think?"

"You know, technically she's not a tra-" Fandral was cut off before he could finish by Sif's outburst.

"She might as well be."

"You sure you're not saying that just because you always hated her?" asked Fandral. Thor could see Sif's knuckles turn white as her grip on her reigns tightened. He placed his hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner, relaxing her posture and hands.

"Come. The faster we talk to her the faster we can leave." Thor rode off ahead and started up the hill.

The five came through a tall metal gate which extended around the property, bushes and vines intricately twisting through and around the wall. They passed through the giant garden where many workers attended the flowers only to stop and stare at the prince who passed them by. Finally they arrived at the entrance to the house to find Sigyn standing there waiting for them.

Sigyn had blonde hair like most of Asgard, which she had put up into an intricate bun. Her eyes were a golden brown and she had a round face with plump lips. Her frame was skinny but short, barely reaching Thor's shoulder if she were to stand next to him. Her dress was simple and light in order to fit with the country setting.

"Welcome, Prince Thor, son of Odin and heir to the throne." She bowed down low to the ground, any servants in the area following suit and doing the same. "As well as the noble Warriors Three and Lady Sif." There was no sign of mockery in her voice but Thor knew after many years of knowing her and his brother that that didn't mean she respected them by any means.

"Come inside and eat while my servants will tend to your horses. I already have food waiting for you."

"You do?" Fandral was flabbergasted.

She smirked at the man's confusion, "I do also go by the name Groa, remember? Just because the Midgardians forgot to put that bit of information into their stories and legends does not mean I am not a seeress."

Fandral gave a small chuckle and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. The five then got down off their horses and followed the woman into her house. They were led into a room with windows that overlooked a small but beautiful lake with a small dining table in the middle. There was already food set out which caused Volstagg to smile in delight and dig in. The six fit comfortably at the table but without a lot of extra room.

"I apologize for the small size," said Sigyn. "I know you're all used to much bigger eating arrangements but with only three people and not a lot of guests it is perfect."

"Speaking of your sons, where are the little beasts?" Sif sat down at the furthest spot from Sigyn, glaring at the only other woman in the room. Sigyn showed no signs of distress at the insult directed at her sons but instead merely stared back with a neutral expression.

"They are out training, probably up by the Old Woods." Sigyn began to serve herself some food and ignored the glares Sif shot her way.

"Woods? Aren't you worried they might get attacked?" Fandral said.

Sigyn smiled at Fandral, "None of you really get out in the country much do you? The Old Woods are completely harmless; they're not like the deep Forests to the East and West of the capital. And even if they were it's not like they couldn't handle themselves, all of us traveled far into the forests when we were far younger then my sons are today."

"Oh," was all Fandral said to that.

"So," said Sigyn before she took a sip of her wine, "What brings the five of you out here exactly? Somehow I don't think it's to question about my sons or to see me."

"So you're telling us you don't already know? I thought you just said you were a seeress? Can't you already tell why we're here?" Sif sneered at the other woman who only smiled back at her.

"My dear Sif, I'm a seeress but I'm nothing compared to the power of Frigga or the Norns. I can only do so much." Sif only scowled and forcefully stabbed her fork into her food.

Thor thought it would be best if he stepped in before the two women broke out in a fight, eliminating any chance they had of getting the information they were seeking.

"You are correct, Sigyn. We're here to ask you questions about Loki." Sigyn froze mid sip of her wine. She slowly put it back down on the table before looking back up at Thor with a serious gaze.

"And what exactly do you want to know? You already sent your guards to ask me questions after he fell from the Bifrost. I told them everything I knew, there is nothing more. And besides, you already have him locked up in your dungeons."

"Actually he escaped early this morning," said Thor. Sigyn's eyes widened in shock. Thor knew to not let this fool him, however. There was no telling what Sigyn actually knew and didn't.

"What? How?"

"Oh don't tell us you don't already know," spat Sif.

"Of course not. This is the first I've heard of it." This was the first time since they had arrived that they saw any clear anger on the woman's face.

Before Sif could retort Thor cut in. "Sif please," the warrior reluctantly sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Sigyn, I know you two were close-"

"Of course we were close. Why else do you think the rumors spread about how Loki is the one to father Narvi and Vali?" Sigyn turned towards Thor, clearly upset. "But just because we were close doesn't mean I don't know what he did. I know just like everyone else the crimes he committed, the individuals he killed. And I'll tell you now like I told those guards that that wasn't the Loki I knew."

She held Thor with a piercing gaze, almost critical. Thor couldn't help but agree with her about how that wasn't the brother he knew as a child but knew that it didn't matter. Loki had still committed crimes not just against Asgard but Jotenheim and Midgard.

"It doesn't matter what type of person we knew Loki to be, he still did what he did," said Thor.

Sigyn scoffed and turned away. "_We_ knew? Don't make me laugh. None of you ever really knew Loki. I didn't ever fully know him either. Only one person ever truly did."

She turned back to look at Thor at this when they heard a noise come from Sif.

"You mean 'the one who brings grief?' But of course, only someone as messed up as her could ever truly know someone like Loki."

Sigyn stood up quickly, her chair scraping behind her, "She was not always known as such and there was a time that you were friends with her too, all of you."

Sif stood up too to lean over the table with her hands on either side of her plate. "Yes but _I_ severed all ties I had to her after all of Asgard found out what sort of evil she was, unlike the traitor you are."

"I am _not_ a traitor," growled Sigyn. "That is something that only Tyr decided to call me because of my loyalty but seeing as he's not the king no one can call me a traitor."

"Oh yes, your loyalty. While it earned you an honorable title amongst the gods it sure seems to get you in a lot of trouble because you always seem to be loyal to the wrong types of people."

"You mean like my husband, Aurvandil?" Sif's face turned white which made Sigyn smirk. It wasn't long before Sif snapped out of her daze and prepared to draw her sword.

"Enough!" Everyone froze at Thor's outburst. He too was standing up now with his hands outstretched towards both women. "Sif! Sit down."

The woman reluctantly sheathed her sword before taking her seat. "We are not here to talk about the past but the present." Thor turned to look at Sigyn, "Loki has escaped and we need to find him now."

Sigyn slowly sat back down before sighing and closing her eyes. She was about to respond when she was cut off by two boys walking through the door.

"Mother, is everything alright? We heard yelling?" Both boys stopped at the sight of the people in front of them. The two were young but nearing manhood, in the stage known by Midgardians as adolescence. One boy was slightly taller than the other with real light blonde hair. He had brown eyes with a serious expression. The other shorter boy also had blonde hair but it was darker, almost brown, and had a more relaxed, playful look with hazel eyes.

The taller and elder of the two looked to Thor before turning back to his mother, "Is this about Loki?"

"How do you know that?" Hogan asked, speaking up for the first time since the palace.

The boy furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the man. "One of the farmers that live nearby told us. He just got back from selling his produce this morning in the city and heard about it on his way out."

"Mother," said the younger of the two, "Is it true? Did Loki really escape?"

"Yes Vali, it is." Sigyn motioned for her son to come by her side, holding his hand in comfort and protection from the guests in her house.

"You think my mother had something to do with this don't you?" Thor looked at the older son, Narvi who stood tall by the threshold. Thor couldn't help but be reminded of his brother in the way the boy talked and held himself. Perhaps that was another reason why the rumors spread.

"And do not lie to me, I will be able to tell."

"Narvi!" Scolded Sigyn.

"No mother, I will not stand with this prejudice. You had nothing to do with Loki's escape and they have no right accusing you just because they don't like you."

Thor watched the boy in his confidence, standing with his back straight and hands behind his back. "And how can you be so sure? Is there something you know that we don't?"

"If you're accusing my _son_ now of helping Loki you are greatly mistaken," Sigyn's anger was beginning to return but she remained seated.

"What? Narvi?" shouted a flabbergasted Vali, "I've been with him all day. He didn't do anything!"

"And are you the only other person to be able to verify that?" Asked Fandral, "Maybe you had something to do about it too. After all, he was your teacher."

"This is getting ridiculious, Thor," said Sigyn. "You said Loki escaped early this morning, right? Well the three of us were down here eating breakfast an hour after dawn which you can ask any of our servants to confirm that. We also had lunch at midday and here we are, shortly before super time. Throughout the day, many of our servants and neighbors says all three of us doing various activities and chores, proving that none of us could have slipped away to the capital to help Loki escape and make it back here before the next time we'd been seen. The travel is more than an hour to the city and the same way back. So stop this at once, we had nothing to do with this."

"You are correct, Lady Sigyn," said Thor. "The travel is longer than an hour, on horseback that is. However, what about through magic?"

"Magic? What are you talking about?" Sigyn looked confused and outraged.

"My brother found a way to travel through realms without using the Bifrost. A way that Heimdell could not see and still can't. If he could do that who's to say he couldn't travel to different parts of Asgard in a reduced amount of time too."

"I know of no such travel, Loki never told me he could do that," said Sigyn.

"Oh like we believe that." Sif rolled her eyes at the sorceress.

"I wasn't finished yet," said Sigyn sternly. "What I was going to say is I know of no such travel that can do that within a realm but Loki did once tell me that he discovered a way to travel between realms that are hidden from Heimdells sight."

"You never told us that? You should have told the guards that who came to question you," shouted Sif.

"They never asked," she simply said. "They only ever asked if I knew about his plans to take the throne and kill the Frost Giants, which I did not."

Sif looked ready to argue again but Thor stopped her before she could. "Nevertheless, Sigyn, you still should have informed the guards of this."

"Perhaps. But seeing as everyone believed Loki to be dead at the time I saw no harm in keeping the information to myself."

"Well he isn't dead and now he's out there again, free and dangerous. We need to stop him," said Thor.

Sigyn sighed and leaned on the table. "I know."

"Loki is, and will forever be my friend, but something happened to turn him dangerous. He needs to be stopped."

"What do you mean," questioned Volstagg.

"Thor, you said you are not here to talk about the past but the present. That is where you are wrong. The man that Loki is today did not happen overnight. Something or multiple occurrences happened to make him the way he is today. Our experiences are what shape us."

"Sooo, what happened to Loki?" said Fandral.

"In order to answer that question you must go back to our childhoods, _all_ of ours." Sigyn gave each of her guests a pointed look.

"Yes, yes, Loki was ignored, not loved, left in Thor's shadow, we've all heard this before." Fandral began to eat his food, acting as if he was uninterested in the conversation.

"I do believe there was a famous Midgardian author once, who said 'There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact,'" said Sigyn.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Asked Volstagg.

Sigyn merely scowled and sighed. "Nothing, nevermind."

"Sigyn," said Thor. "We don't care how Loki got the way he is right now, we just need to catch and find him before he hurts himself or anyone else."

"I wish I could help, but I can't Thor. Loki only _told_ me about the secret passages, he never showed me them. If that's what you're looking for then I am of no help. You'll have to go after him by other means. And I've already told you my sons and I had no part in his escape, if you still don't believe us then please, ask our servants and neighbors."

"Oh we will." Sigyn stared at Thor but no longer looked angry but instead just tired and sad.

"When did we all get to this, Thor. All of us. We used to be such good friends and now, we are divided. There used to be no sides, only friendship."

A pang went through Thor's heart. He missed the old days but knew they were long gone.

"The rift occurred when you all started betraying your people." Thor began to walk around the table to leave, the other four following suit.

"Aurvandil never betrayed his people, in fact he died for them."

"I never ment, Aurvandil."

"Well he was always on _our_ side so when you insult us, you disgrace him as well."

Thor had nothing left to say so he turned and followed his friends out of the room. Right before he reached the front door Narvi stopped him.

"You still care for your brother, yes?"

Thor nodded at the boy.

"Then don't give up on him."

"You still care for my brother too, don't you?"

Narvi stood up taller, "Of course. After my father's death he was the closest thing my brother and I had to a father figure. He taught us magic and how to fight. Even if the stories and rumors aren't true I consider him as a second father. He was a good man. Still _is_ a good man."

Thor furrowed his eyebrows, questionably. "There's something you and your mother aren't telling us."

"There's lots of things we haven't told you, all of which are personal and not a potential threat to the nine realms if kept a secret," Narvi said with a straight face and unwaveringly. "But what I think my mother was trying to say when she quoted the human writer was that not everything is as it seems."

Thor was about to ask the boy another question when Sif called out to him. He gave the boy one last confused look before turning and going outside. Once he had mounted his horse and the five warriors were leaving the gates, Thor turned back to look at the house.

"So what do we do now?" Questioned Fandral.

"We wait for the Bifrost to be finished and then we go after Loki."

* * *

That quote I used by the "famous Midgardian author" that Sigyn said was by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in one of his Sherlock Holmes stories. I thought it worked very nicely for where this story is going.

I know, this chapter didn't really answer any questions, only raised more, but all in due time my friends. Answers will come, along with Loki. Next chapter, I promise will have Loki again.

By the way, in Norse Mythology, Sigyn was never known as the seeress Groa, they are two entirely different people. But for this story I decided to make the two the same person which isn't uncommon for main Gods to go by other names in the mythology. Odin and Thor both had other names they had been called at different points in the myths, granted most of the time they were disguising themselves, however. Anyways, I did this because I needed to give Sigyn a husband who wasn't Loki and I picked Aurvandil because he isn't exactly a well known God, or even a God for that matter. I believe technically in the myths he was a demi-god but in my story I haven't decided yet. His anonymity works both in the plot of my story and also so I can expand more on his character without conflicting with the comic books or mythology.

Has anyone seen Iron Man 3 yet? Already watched it twice! I might include some elements from the movie into this story, by the way, which I've already sort of done with Tony's nightmares. But this story is a sequel to Avengers and anything after that is AU. Which means if by the time Thor 2 comes out and I'm not finished with this yet, that movie is a completely different Universe. Which I already know that the events of Thor 2 is completely different from where I'm going with this story from what I'm able to tell from the trailer.

The chapter title is "Veil of Deception" by Death Angel.

Finally, reviews people, reviews! Tell me what you think, where I should improve, what you like, any questions you have. Is this story interesting, is it boring, am I just talking to myself at this point. If so, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll still update because this is mainly to just get my thoughts and ideas out on paper so it's not so jumbled up in my head. But reviews would at least be a pleasant surprise, although please no flames. There's no reason to be rude, we're all here to have fun and read stories.

See you next week!


	5. Psycho Killer

Hello readers! New chapter up and ready to go! Enjoy.

* * *

Pepper sat at the kitchen table eating her dinner while she worked on paper work. It was always lonely at the house without Tony, being so big and empty. Tony was still in Santa Rosa trying to get as much information off of the mysterious Mr. Boggess as possible. The last she'd heard from him he was visiting the man's children but wasn't holding his breath from everything he'd heard of the two.

Pepper sighed and ran her hand down her face, rubbing her eyes from exhaustion. She'd been working so much since becoming CEO of Stark Industries and while it felt good it could also get tiring. She got up and walked to the couch to lie down for a bit, opting to finish her work tomorrow.

It felt like only minutes before she woke up, realizing she'd fallen asleep and the sun which before was close to descending low under the horizon was completely gone and darkness had taken its place. She must have slept longer than she thought.

That's when she heard a banging noise coming from the basement. It must have been what had woke her up before.

"Jarvis, what was that noise?"

"What noise, miss Potts?"

"The noise I just heard come from Tony's lab? Can you tell me if anyone's in the house other than me?"

"There are no other life forms on the grounds, miss Potts. Your heartbeat is the only one I can detect."

While that reassured her slightly it still didn't mean there wasn't anything in the house.

She tentatively got up from the couch and walked quietly towards the stairs that led down to Tony's workshop where the noises had come from. Of course, not before she grabbed a large metal wrench on her way down that lay against the wall on the staircase. There was a good chance that whatever had made the noise was just one of Tony's "Dummy robots" that seemed to have a mind of their own.

It wouldn't be the first time she'd find them moving around knocking things off tables and shelves. While yes, they could be useful there was a reason Tony constantly insulted them and called them dummies, more specifically the one that had ended up saving his life after Obadiah had stolen his arc reactor.

Once down the stairs and through the door, Pepper walked slowly forward with the wrench held firmly in her hands, looking around the room for any intruders. Finally Pepper spotted one of the dummy robots off to the left, next to a table with tools scattered everywhere. It turned towards her and made its beeping noises at the "sight" of her. Pepper sighed and relaxed, dropping the wrench down from over her head to place it against the wall.

The other robot was closer to her and turning back and forth between its companion and Pepper, beeping almost as if trying to talk to her. Pepper ignored it and walked over to the other one to pick up the mess it had created. Pepper was relived there was no one or nothing else in the house except for her and the robots.

She thought to herself that maybe she needed to get more rest at night. She was strung out and after New York she wasn't the only one to constantly be on the lookout. She knew Tony definitely was but it wasn't only him. Many citizens who haven't ever even been to New York were constantly worried over another invasion.

Bending down to pick up the tools, the dummies continued to try and communicate with her.

"It's alright you guys, I've got it. Seriously, there's no need to worry."

But the two kept beeping at her, Pepper continuing to ignore them. She took the tools away from the table they sat previously on to carry them over to Tony's toolbox. The man never put anything away but seeing as his workshop was his domain, it never really bothered her.

Pepper began putting the tools away when a strong hand covered her mouth and an arm circled around her waist, causing her to drop all the tools onto the ground. She began struggling against the intruder which she knew to be a man from the build. However, she found the man to be too strong for her to wiggle out of the hold or use her arms. Instead she tried kicking the person and while she landed a few kicks the intruder made noise as if they'd been hurt by the attack.

"Stop fighting, I don't want to hurt you." The voice was smooth and low right next to her ear. She could feel the man's breath through her hair sending a shiver down her spine.

Despite the man's words she did not stop fighting, there was no way she was going to let the man take her or hurt her without a fight. As she continued to struggle the man drug her towards a chair which he forcefully shoved her into giving her a clear look at her attacker.

She gasped and her eyes went wide at the man standing before her. She'd seen that face before from Tony's computer before and after New York. It was Loki.

But while she knew who it was he still looked different. The images that she'd seen of him even of during the fight, he always looked prim and proper with full body armor that shined bright even with dirt and blood on it. His face always held an expression that radiated a sense of superiority and sophistication.

Now, however, his dark hair was frazzled, sticking up at ends and looking wild. His body was absent of any armor but instead had simple black pants and a loose white undershirt that looked like something out of a Shakespeare play while he was barefoot. His face and eyes are what got her though. He didn't look like the same man from the pictures she'd seen but one that was broken and lost. His eyes were as wild as his hair and a deep green, any piercing and knowing gaze gone.

His appearance both soothed Peppers nerves and raised them. While he was unarmed and could look like a simple man without the weapon or armor he had a feral look about him, almost as if he was a wild dog gone mad. Before Pepper could get up and attack though Loki raised his hand towards her and it felt as if an invisible rope wrapped around her, securing her to the seat.

Pepper fought against the invisible restraints but it was of no use, she was stuck. Fear rose up in Peppers stomach; she didn't know what the man was going to do to her. Maybe get revenge on Tony by killing her.

Loki, however, didn't seem to pay any mind towards her. She watched as the man furiously ran around the room, knocking over things in his haste to find something. Pepper realized that it must have been him who had made the noises early and not the dummies. That must have been why the two robots kept beeping at her, they were trying to warn her about the intruder. But then that posed the question as to why Jarvis didn't detect the man.

"Jarvis, I thought you said I was the only one here."

"I did miss Potts. You are the only one I can sense in the premises." At the AI's voice there was a loud crash from across the room. Loki was standing in what could be considered a sloppy fighting stance, looking frantically around him for the source of the voice. When he found no one he locked eyes with Pepper.

"Who was that? Who were you talking to? Where are they?" As he asked each question he got closer and closer to Pepper, nearly running across the room to her. His voice was shaky but forceful only adding to his wildness.

"No one! It's just Jarvis, Tony's computer." Pepper unconsciously leaned back in her chair with Loki so close to her. She tried to show no fear but found herself shaking.

"What? Computer?" Pepper wasn't sure if he was confused over what a computer was or the fact that Tony's could talk so she only nodded her head.

He looked around again before turning to the ceiling as if the AI would be hanging from the rafters. "Where is this Jarvis?"

"I am not really anywhere, sir. I am programmed into the house in order to give aid to Mr. Stark in all aspects of his life."

Once Jarvis mentioned Tony, Pepper could see a visible change in the man. He seemed to almost perk up at his name but at the same time grow even more agitated.

"Stark! Where is he? Is he here?"

"He is currently in Santa Rosa on business. He will not be back for at least another day."

"Jarvis!" Pepper couldn't believe how Jarvis seemed to be almost helping the man by telling him Tony's whereabouts. There were supposed to be security systems to prevent this sort of thing.

"Wait, you did something to him. You did something to Jarvis!" Loki had gone back to his wild searching and didn't seem to pay much mind to Pepper. He only continued to make a mess of Tony's lab.

After a few more minutes of ransacking, Loki finally turned over a table with a shout. At the shout Pepper could have sworn that she felt the invisible force keeping her down loosen and fade before regaining its power again.

"There's nothing here! Nothing, nothing, _nothing_ for me to use!" He began pacing back and forth, pulling at his hair while muttering to himself. Pepper couldn't hear what he was saying but stayed quiet. She didn't want to get in the cross fire of his rage.

He then stopped and caught sight of her, almost as if realizing she was there for the first time. Pepper held her breath in anticipation of what he'd do next.

"You!" he shouted, "You're one of them! You know where I need to go, what I need to do!" His eyes took on a dangerous look and his teeth could be seen in an almost sort of snarl. In a matter of seconds he was peering over Pepper with his hands on her arms, gripping tight.

"No! I don't! I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me! I'm the _god_ of lies. I can smell it on you." With the last sentence he was almost whispering to Pepper in a smooth and threatening tone. It only made the terror rise even more. The circulation to her arms began to get cut off due to the tight grip he had on her, sending sharp pins of pain up and down her limbs.

Pepper looked into his eyes almost pleadingly but only saw madness staring back. But then he abruptly let go of her and stumbled back as if he'd been burned by her touch.

"No, no, no,no,no." With each no, Loki hit his hand against his head. "What am I doing? That's not me, not me."

Pepper watched the scene with fear and fascination. Loki began muttering to himself again and as this went on Pepper could feel her restraints begin to loosen again. She struggled against the force, trying to help it brake. She felt her hands and legs become free, allowing her to stand up slowly.

It appeared as if Loki still was unaware that he'd let her go unconsciously, continuing to pace back and forth. Pepper slowly began walking to the opposite wall in order to reach the panic button Tony had that would contact both the police and SHIELD. She was almost to the button when Loki stopped mid-step and realized what she was doing.

Both broke out in a sprint but Loki grabbed her before she could call for help and shoved her up against a desk.

"What do you think you're doing? Calling for help? Is that what you're doing?" He was shaking her but not overly so. Just enough to get her to lock her eyes on him and have her full attention.

"No! You can't! I can't go back into a dark dungeon. I need to stay out here. I need to save them!" There was a long pause between the two which was only filled by their raged breathing. Pepper took a deep breath and swallowed.

"Who-whose them?"

Loki's eyes widened and he leaned slightly closer to her to whisper, "Everyone."

Pepper tried controlling her shaking. Fear and hasty action weren't going to get her out of this one, she needed to be clever. Normally she figured that there would be no one who'd be able to escape from the god through talking, but now in the current state he was in, he clearly wasn't thinking straight.

"Bu-but what do we need protecting from?"

"Oh, but isn't that the question?" Loki's grip loosened on Pepper as he became absorbed in his rant. She still knew that she wouldn't be able to take the god, however, and continued to wait. "What do we need protecting from? They all think they're safe but it's all around us, the threats. It's a constant battle, never safe. Always having to watch your step. And it's not just one, there's multiple. So many threats from so many origins. Once you get rid of one, there's another."

Loki had completely released Pepper by now but still stood close, looming over her.

"But, what is the most recent threat then?" Pepper asked. Her voice was still wavering but she was able to keep herself from stuttering on any of her words.

"Oh, there's many. So many. And we have to stop them. They're not just after me, but all of us."

Loki began pacing again but as soon as Pepper began to move his attention was back on her.

"You, I don't know you. Who are you? Do you know Howard?"

"Howard? You mean Tony's dad?"

"Yes!" Loki looked thrilled that she knew who he was talking about. "You know him!"

"No actually. I never met him." Loki deflated at this, "Why? Do you know Howard?"

Before Loki could answer a doorbell ring was heard throughout the house. Pepper froze and Loki began looking around hysterically again. One of Tony's screens came to life to reveal a short man at the front door with dark hair. Pepper gasped and once Loki saw the screen he became ridged.

"That man, I know him, I've seen him. You brought him, didn't you?" Loki rounded on Pepper.

"No, no, I didn't. I didn't call Bruce!"

"Bruce. That's the green monsters name? You called Bruce!" Loki got closer and closer to Pepper as she backed up slowly, angling herself towards the panic button to contact SHIELD.

"No, I swear!"

"Then why is he here!?" The doorbell rang again.

"He's friends with Tony. I forgot, we both forgot, he was supposed to be coming today." Loki grabbed Pepper before she had the chance to get to the button and pulled her up off her feet to look her in the eyes.

"Please, I swear to you. I didn't call Bruce!" There was a silent pause as Loki stared her in the eyes, scowling and ready to act at a moment's notice. Then he relaxed slightly and gently placed Pepper back on the ground.

"You're telling the truth," he whispered.

Pepper let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She looked back to the screen to see Bruce ring the door bell one more time when an idea occurred to her.

"I-I can go get rid of him." Loki turned his head to her at this.

"I can tell him to come back later and then we'll be alone again. I can help you."

Loki looked hesitant, it was clear he didn't fully trust her or Bruce.

"It's alright, Bruce won't turn into the Hulk unless you get him angry. He won't hurt you." She tried to make her voice as soothing as possible in order to make him trust her. After a couple seconds of careful evaluation Loki apparently came to the conclusion that trusting her was the best bet.

"Fine, but I will be right there next to you to make sure you don't try anything." Pepper nodded and the two began walking back up the stairs. The bell rang again followed by a loud knock on the doors.

"Tony! Pepper! Hey it's Bruce! I know it's dark and I'm late but please open up," Came Bruce's muffled call.

Once in front of the double doors, Pepper looked once more at Loki who stood off to the left, staring at her. She opened one of the doors to be greeted by the sight of Bruce.

"Pepper, finally. I was beginning to think no one was home." Bruce gave her a warm smile which she returned but was strained.

"On no, I'm here, I was just downstairs. And so is Tony. He's working on one of his Iron Man suits. Maybe you could come back later."

"Oh I don't mind, if he's working on one of his suits I'm sure he'd actually welcome me to assist." He smiled and took a step forward as if to walk inside but Pepper stood right in front of his with a straight face.

"I'm sorry Bruce, but now is not really a good time. If you could just come back tomorrow that would be great."

"What? But Pepper, we've worked together before. Is everything alright?"

"Never better."

Bruce stood there with a confused look on his face, staring at the red head. That's when he noticed the usually neat hair in disarray and the pinched expression. She then looked to her left before making eye contact with him again. He furrowed his eyes at this when she did it again and then it occurred to him. He gave a slight nod of his head to indicate he understood her predicament which she relaxed marginally at.

"Oh ok. I guess I'll just come back tomorrow. Tell Tony I said hi."

"Of course." Pepper gave him a slight wave before closing the door. She waited with Loki until they heard his feet leave and waited for several more minutes afterwards before Loki was content he'd left.

"Good, now that he's gone we can get back to business."

The two went back down the stairs only to find Bruce waiting for them. Pepper was overjoyed that Tony must have informed the scientist about the secret entrance to his lab outside and encoded his DNA to give him access. Once the two men caught sight of each other they gasped.

"Loki!?"

The god got into a fighting stance and glared at the other man, "What are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. How did you get out of Asgard?"

Loki ignored his question and instead turned to Pepper who swiftly hit him in the face with the metal wrench she'd put down earlier next to the door. He fell down hard and Pepper ran over to Bruce who grabbed her and put her behind him.

Once the god got back up there was blood that covered his face that was streaming from his nose. Instead of snarling and attacking, he had fear in his eyes and backed up slowly to get away from the two. Whether it was because of Peppers attack or the memory of the Hulk it was unclear.

Bruce took a step towards the god who flinched away in fear and ran away to the other side of the room.

"There's nowhere to run Loki, I've already called SHIELD and they're on their way," said Bruce.

"SHIELD!? No! You can't call SHIELD!" Loki's eyes only grew in fright and backed up into a wall, looking every which way as if he were a caged animal.

Bruce was taken aback. Yes SHIELD had temporarily imprisoned him on the Hellicarrier but it wasn't as if they'd tortured him or kept him there for very long. The mere mention of SHIELD shouldn't have elicited this sort of response from the god. But then again, perhaps he just knew that SHIELD meant Asgard and Asgard meant whatever it was he had run away from but only increased. However, Bruce couldn't imagine torture going along with his imprisonment on Asgard, they were his family after all, right? But maybe-

"No, SHIELD can't have me!" Well that proved that it was SHIELD not Asgard that Loki feared but that didn't make much sense. Bruce took another tentative step towards Loki who jumped up at his approach and ran. He ran straight towards one of the walls and raised his hand causing the wall to explode, shaking the entire house.

Bruce dove down over Pepper to shield her from the large rocks heading their way. Once they got back up it was to find a missing Loki and a giant hole in the wall overlooking the ocean. They both cautiously approached the hole and looked down to the harsh waves below, hard to see anything at all from their distance and due to the darkness.

"Are you alright?" Bruce began looking over Pepper for any injuries both from the explosion and her encounter with the villain beforehand.

"Yes I'm fine. Just a little shaken." She tried offering the man a smile but it still came out forced. She had visibly calmed, however, with Bruce standing next to her and the god gone.

"Where's Tony?"

"He's out of town. We both actually forgot you were coming but something came up about some old man who needed to talk to him or something." Pepper was holding her head after she had been hit by a rock that Bruce wasn't able to stop.

"Alright Pepper, you should probably sit down." Bruce led her over to the very same chair Loki held her in and placed it back upright after it'd been knocked down to put her in it. Once situated, Bruce knelt down to look at her.

"Pepper, what did Loki want? Was he after Tony?"

"No actually, I don't know what he was after. He just kept talking about how we're all in danger, constantly in danger. None of it made any sense really. I think he's gone crazy."

"His head was a box of cats to begin with." Bruce smirked.

"No, this was different. I know I never actually met him before but from the footage Tony showed me and what the two of you've told me, he's different. Crazier." Bruce nodded his head. He could see that from the short time he saw him.

The sound of distant helicopters could be heard as well as fast approaching cars, signaling SHIELD's arrival.

"It's going to be alright Pepper. SHIELD's almost here and I'll call Tony to let him know what's going on."

"Thanks Bruce." She smiled at the man and knew he was right, she was safe. But she couldn't help think about the strange god, where he'd gone, and what it was he was talking about when he said that everyone was in danger.

* * *

Well there you have it, Chapter 5.

Chapter title: Psycho Killer by Talking Heads

Please REVIEW! At least I got one last chapter which I would like to thank Dark-Angel-Princess 01 for. Here is that new update you asked for. :)

See you next week!


	6. And Justice for All

Hello readers! I am deeply sorry this took an extra week but I was visiting friends out of town all last week and there was no hope of me getting any writing done while there. But I'm back! I will be working more this summer which is a drawback but I hope not enough to interfere with my updates to this story.

Which brings me to the reviews! Thank you all so very much for your wonderful reviews, favorites, and follows that I received. I don't know what I did but I must have got it right last chapter because I haven't received such a strong reaction like that before. Thank you all again!

Now, enjoy!

* * *

Tony flew through the sky in his Iron Man suit at top speed. As soon as he got the call from Bruce he was off and on his way back to Malibu, leaving his pilot and plane behind to come back on their own.

The only thing that went through Tony's mind was Pepper. He hoped she was alright and if she wasn't then Loki was in a world of hurt. He was going to be either way since he was back on Earth and pretty much the entire planet wanted retribution for his sins.

After New York, and the entire incident in Germany beforehand, the entire world knew his face. SHIELD hadn't yet come to a decision on whether or not to reveal the identity of the worlds attacker to the public shortly after the invasion, but their minds were made up for them when a leaked tape from some German bystander in Berlin during his attack was uploaded to the internet. And then a couple different videos from New York soon surfaced, one or two having a clear shot of the god during the Chitari attack, letting the world piece the information together before SHIELD or other government agencies could confirm Loki as the man behind the plan.

But none of that mattered because Loki was Tony's. All the events from the last couple days were pushed to the back of his mind in replace of his concern for Pepper. Mr. Boggess and the mysterious woman from his dreams would have to wait. Although it wasn't like he'd figured out much else after his visit to the Shady Oaks.

Mr. Boggess children were of no help and didn't even want to talk to Tony. There was little else for Tony to do in Santa Rosa after he'd been forbid from seeing Mr. Boggess again anyways, which frustrated him to no end.

He had more questions about the picture that he had of Mr. Boggess, the woman 'Angie', and the other three men. On the back of the picture, there were handwritten words in cursive. It said 'SHIELD Council 1957'. This was confusing because before Tony had left for Santa Rosa he looked over the files that his father had on Boggess some more and found the information on the Council. In 1957, the 5th Council was formed but at the time there were only four members, not five. So why were there five people in the picture not four? And who was this woman because the files had nothing on her either?

Tony's house was in his sights and soon landed in the driveway where a large number of SHIELD vehicles were at. Tony bypassed all of them without giving them a second glance and strode straight into his house.

"Stark!"

Tony faltered and turned around to see Agent Romanoff walking towards him from the other side of the room.

"Where's Pepper?"

"Tony-"

"Where is she?" Now that Tony was back in his house he was beginning to lose his cool. Before he was only determined to get to his destination as fast as he could but now that he had reached it he only wanted to see Pepper.

"She's alright Tony, relax. She's here." Romanoff's features were schooled to a look of complete control as usual. However, Tony supposed it was only from working with her for so long that he could notice the slightest bit of extra strain and rigidness in her stance. Whether it was due to concern for Pepper or hatred for Loki he was unsure.

Tony sighed with relief. "What happened here?"

"Loki showed up here a couple hours back, rummaging through your lab according to Pepper. Dr. Banner arrived, however, and she was able to inform him that she was in danger. Once Banner confronted Loki the god disappeared but not before blasting a whole in your wall."

"He blasted a whole through my wall?" Tony cried in outrage.

"Yes, in your lab."

Tony sighed again and ran a hand down his face. "Why that little evil reindeer. I'll hunt him down and mount his head up on the newly repaired wall he just destroyed."

Natasha smirked. "Pepper's still downstairs with Dr. Banner and Fury."

Tony nodded and took off down the stairs with Natasha following close behind. As soon as Tony caught sight of Pepper the two embraced in a hug.

"Pepper! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Tony."

"You're head!" he cried upon seeing the bandage placed there.

"Tony, it's fine. It's not that ba-"

"That bastard!"

"Tony!" shouted Pepper in order to get his attention. "Really, I'm ok." She gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand for comfort. Tony smiled back before turning to Bruce who stood only a couple feet away next to Fury and the recently arrived Natasha.

"Thanks for saving Pepper, Bruce."

"Of course Tony. Any time," he said with a pat on the shoulder to Tony.

"What happened here? Romanoff here told me that he was going through my stuff? Why the hell would he be doing that?"

"Why don't you tell us," said Fury with a critical narrowed eye.

"What? I have a number of things down here that he could want I suppose. Maybe he wanted to destroy some of my suits, or better yet, you know for him at least, me."

"That's what we thought at first too but Pepper seems insistent that you were not his objective," said Fury.

Tony and everyone else turned toward Pepper with a questioning look. She looked nervous under their gazes and bit her lip in agitation. "I don't know, it's just…whatever he was here for it wasn't you. Actually I don't even know if _he_ knew what he was looking for."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Tony, "He's crazier than he already was to begin with?"

"From what I witnessed that would be my conclusion too," said Bruce.

"What do you know? I thought you told me and I quote, 'I'm not that type of doctor.'" said Tony.

Bruce smirked at this. "Yes but it doesn't take a doctorate in psychology to realize that guy has gone off the deep end."

"Just like it doesn't take a professional to realize that you're a narcissistic arrogant asshole who has serious daddy issues and Bruce here has the world's worst anger issues," said Natasha.

Tony opened his mouth as if to retort before closing his mouth and nodding. "Point taken."

"Are you sure he wasn't after Tony though, Miss. Potts? That would be the most likely explanation," asked Fury.

"Well no, not really. At one point Jarvis mentioned your name Tony, but only your last name and he seemed to get excited. And then later on he was asking me if I knew your dad."

Tony froze. His father? Why was everyone all of a sudden interested in his dad? First the mysterious Mr. Boggess thought he was his father and now Loki is looking for his dad.

"Howard Stark? But how would he even know who Howard was?" asked Natasha.

"Well he is a god," said Bruce, "He has lived for a long time. Who's to say he hasn't come to Earth before and met Tony's dad then."

"But out of all the people on Earth he just so happens to meet Howard Stark?" asked Fury, "No, I don't think so."

"Well then how?" asked Natasha.

"Jarvis." Everyone turned to look at Pepper.

"What about Jarvis, Pep?"

"He did something to Jarvis. When I asked if anyone else was in the house with me when I heard noises from down here, Jarvis told me I was the only one. He also gave Loki information on your whereabouts when he asked about you."

"What? He's messing with Jarvis now too?!" Tony stomped over to his desk and began scanning for any security breaches to the system.

"While that is a possibility it still seems far-fetched," said Natasha.

"While finding out how Loki knows about Howard Stark is all very interesting it's not the most pressing matter at the moment," said Fury who was seething. "We need to figure out where he is and how the hell he exactly escaped from Asgard."

"Yeah! Where the hell is Thor in all of this?" piped up Tony from his spot at his desk, continuing to tap away at his computer.

"We don't know but if Loki's escaped Thor can't be far behind him. Maybe some of our questions will be answered once he gets here," said Fury.

"Damn it!" shouted Tony, "I can't believe it! He hacked Jarvis!"

"How did he do that?" asked Bruce.

"Is it anything like the time you 'let' your friend Rhody steal one of your Iron Man suits?" snickered Natasha.

"_No_, this isn't like that. Why would I let a supervillian hack into my system?"

Before Natasha could retort back Fury cut in with a scowl, "Just fix the damn computer so we can get back to finding this guy. The council and I don't want a repeat of New York."

Tony perked up at this. The council. The same council that Mr. Boggess and the mysterious 'Angie' were a part of.

"Ah, the council. Who are these guys anyways? And when do I get to meet them."

"Never if I have anything to say about it," growled Fury. "Why do you even care?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"What can't a guy be interested in the organization he's a part of?"

"Not when it's you, no," said Fury definitively.

"Well there's a first time for everything. I want to know more about SHIELD and its council. How many members are there? Has that always been the number? Have there ever been any women on the council? If so how many? When was SHIELD even formed? Actually that's something I've been wondering for a while now. I mean, what did SHIELD even do before Steve and the whole cube fiasco with the Red Skull."

"Tony!" shouted Fury, "Now is most definitely not the time for a history lesson."

"Well excuse me for wanting to expand my knowledge."

"Sometimes having you expand your knowledge is not a good thing because you don't know when to keep your big fat nose out of where it shouldn't be."

"Hey! It is not fat!" Fury only rolled his eyes and ordered Natasha to pack up in preparation for departure. Natasha nodded her head at his order and soon Fury collected all his agents and had left to go search for the missing god, leaving Tony, Bruce, and Pepper alone in the house.

"Damn god, who does he think he is hacking _my_ computer, destroying _my_ house, and coming after _my_ girlfriend," grumbled Tony as he continued at his computer.

"Are you going to be able to fix Jarvis?" asked Bruce.

"Of course I can! I'm going to have to restart him now after I've gotten rid of all the adjustments that were made. Seriously though, how did he do all of this anyway? I wouldn't have figured he would even know what a computer was."

"Magic?" said Bruce with a shrug.

"Really? You sound like you're from Harry Potter. Magic, because that's the answer to all of the crazy questions we have."

"Well if magic can get the job done then why isn't that a valid enough answer?"

"True. But I prefer science." Bruce chuckled at this. Silence then fell except for the tapping made by Tony and soon the two realized how quiet Pepper was. She was sitting in a chair, looking around in a daze. Tony stopped what he was doing and walked over to her and kneeled down.

He grabbed one of her hands and placed it in his, giving it a small squeeze to get her attention. "Pepper, are you sure you're alright?"

Pepper nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just…" She trailed off and looked down at her hand in Tony's.

"What is it Pepper?"

"It's just…the way he was acting. The things he said."

Tony's eyes darkened. "What did he say to you?"

"He said that he was in danger and so was everybody else. He said he needed to save everyone."

Tony snorted. "Loki? Save people? Oh that's rich. What is he exactly saving us from?"

"That's the thing, I don't know exactly. I asked him and he went on some rant about how the threats are everywhere and you need to be on your constant guard. It all sounded so crazy but at the same time…I felt like he was being sincere."

"Pepper, he's the god of lies. He's good at making people think what he wants them to think. And plus we already established he's super crazy, none of what he said probably had any substantial truth behind it."

"Well actually Tony," said Bruce, "A lot of the time psychotic peoples jaded reality that they have fabricated for themselves have at least some parts that are based off of their real life and real events. They've only modified it to suit their new world in order to better deal with events."

Tony turned and stared at Bruce who only shrugged. "Are you or are you not that type of doctor? Really Bruce, for someone who _isn't_, you sure seem to know a lot about psychology." Bruce smirked. "And besides, I suppose he's right. He _is_ in danger because practically the entire universe is after him and everybody _else_ is also in danger because I know it sucks but there are a lot of bad people out there so of course we're all potentially in danger."

"Yes but Tony, I think Pepper might be right. When I talked to him for the short time, he wasn't trying to trick me or one-up me like last time."

"All part of his trick."

"No, Tony. You didn't see him. I've never seen so much terror on his face before or many others faces for that matter. When I mentioned SHIELD he completely freaked out."

"Which he should," Tony said as he stood up and threw his hands into the air. "We kicked his butt once and he knows we'll be after him so his fear would be completely justified."

"Yes but Tony, not this kind of fear. He'd understandably panic at the thought of being captured by SHIELD but SHIELD isn't the one that imprisoned him, Asgard did. So why would he be so terrified of _SHIELD_?"

"Because he knows we'll turn him over to Asgard once we get him." Tony gave a look as if 'Duh, isn't it obvious?'.

"Are you sure about that?"

Tony and Pepper gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean?" asked Pepper.

"Last time when Fury gave Loki over to Thor he did it without the Councils knowledge. And afterwards they were really pissed about what he did. They said that Loki was supposed to be their war prisoner and should answer to them for his crimes, not Thor's dad Odin."

"Wait, how do you know this?" asked Tony with furrowed eyebrows.

"I actually listen to Fury and Natasha when they're talking to me. I don't tune them out when I find them boring."

Pepper tried holding back a laugh and Tony scoffed. "I resent that."

Bruce shook his head. "But seriously, think about it. If SHIELD catches him again who's to say they'll actually turn him over to Thor? And who's to say Thor is even coming?"

"It's his evil little brother, of course he's coming."

"Of course he'd want to come but that doesn't mean he's able to come. Think about it, last time Thor said his father sent him here to Earth using a bunch of magic but he also told me about how his father's getting old."

"You mean Asgardian old?" said Tony.

"Yes, old for them. If it took a lot out of him to bring Thor to our world last time who's to say he can do it again. And plus the normal means they use of traveling, some sort of Einstein Rosen bridge, was broken. It could take a while to fix and by the time they do the Council could already have Loki in their actual hands."

"Yes but Thor would never allow that. Once he _does_ get here he'll take Loki back with him no matter what," said Tony.

"But not without starting a war. If the Council was willing to nuke all of New York City then they might be willing to start a war with Asgard."

"Fury would never allow that."

"Fury can be replaced, Tony. He may be the Director but even with his orders to not launch a missile on the city, one was still launched because of the Council's decision. You know better than anyone this was true, you had to stop it."

Tony became ridged at the mention of the nuke. Flashes of the wormhole flooded his mind and only went away with Peppers hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and saw a small sad smile on her face. He looked back at Bruce and saw his serious expression.

"What does it matter anyways? So what if the Council gets Loki, he deserves to be punished for what he did. And I'm sure once Thor gets here he'll see it from our view point. Asgard had their chance with him and let him go so it's our turn."

Bruce had a pained look on his face. "Tony, are you listening? If the Council is willing to murder millions of their own people with a nuclear explosion then imagine what they'd do to Loki? I don't much like the guy either but he doesn't deserve that type of cruelty. Fury hates the council too and it can't only be because they sometimes overrule his orders and are technically in charge of him."

Tony stood there in deep thought. He'd already started thinking about this and how the Council was untrustworthy. He never particularly trusted SHIELD but after everything with Mr. Boggess he was beginning to feel more and more hesitant toward them.

"I'm with you on the whole Council thing, I don't know what it is but something's up with them."

Bruce furrowed his eyebrows at Tony. "And what was that with you asking all those questions about the Council, Tony? Why the sudden interest?"

Tony and Pepper looked at each other before they both came to the same decision. Tony turned back to Bruce and said, "The other day I got this strange phone call from some nurse at a retirement home in Santa Rosa. There's some resident there by the name of Neil Boggess who apparently used to know my father and used to be part of SHIELD's Council before retiring. For about five years now he's been wanting to get ahold of me because of some important information he had to tell me."

"Really?" asked Bruce, astonished. "What was it?"

Tony shrugged. "I don't know, he couldn't remember when I went to go see him. He just thought I was my dad."

"That's why Tony wasn't here when Loki came after me," said Pepper.

"But did you get any useful information from the guy or was it a complete waste?"

"Depends on your definition of useful. I found out some things that are enough to get me suspicious of this whole 'Council'," Tony said while using his hands to make air quotes.

"Like what?"

"Well for one, the documents that I got from my father concerning SHIELD state that there were only four Council members up until 1980 when they added a fifth member to make the votes odd. However, when I went to go see Mr. Boggess he gave me this." Tony pulled out the same picture of the 5th Council.

"It's a picture of the 5th Council in 1957 with _five_ people not four. My dad's files state that this is when Bogges joined the Council and has a record of all four members: Carl Obane, Freddy Bummer, Ralph Fincher, and Neil Boggess. There's no mention of this woman anywhere, however, which Boggess said her name was Angie."

Bruce and Pepper both stared at the picture trying to figure out the mystery behind the picture.

"Obviously SHIELD doesn't want anyone to know about this woman, whoever she is. They must have tried very hard to erase any and all traces of her but didn't do a good enough job if this Boggess guy had this picture," said Bruce.

"She's so beautiful," whispered Pepper who looked at the picture with a sad expression. "I wonder what happened to her."

"Be careful what you ask for Pepper, especially when the governments involved," said Bruce. He almost looked disgusted at the thought.

"Geez Bruce, I know I don't exactly like the government either," said Tony, "but you truly have a distrust that not many can hold a candle to."

"Well when you're on the run for many long years you become distrustful of any government run organization."

Tony smiled at that for he couldn't argue with that. "But I suppose none of that's really the problem now, Loki is. Once Thor gets here-"

"And that's another thing, Thor might not even be coming. You didn't see Loki but being unhinged, well, I don't know but it might have affected his powers somehow," said Bruce.

"What does that supposed to mean? Him being crazy makes him stronger?"

"Well, yes and no. It's kind of like a feral dog. His wildness makes him even more of a danger to others but that not all that I mean. Back in New York he hardly ever seemed to use any of his magic, only ever using his staff. For a master sorcerer he didn't use his magic a bunch. When he did use his magic it never seemed to be for violence but almost as practical uses like changing his appearance. While useful not necessarily sinister. But now…" All Bruce did was turn to the wall behind him and gesture to the massive hole in its place.

"If he can do that now why didn't he do it before?" asked Bruce. "We saw what sort of damage his staff could do and this is equal to that if not more so. Which brings up the question why use the staff anyways other than it served the purpose of mind control?"

"What does it matter why? I thought you'd know better than to question the motives of a madman, Bruce."

Bruce sighed. "I know, but that wasn't my point. If he's that powerful, than maybe…maybe Thor isn't coming back."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows. No, he wouldn't believe it, Thor was coming back, he wasn't dead.

"Thor's coming back, I know it."

"Don't get me wrong Tony, I want him to come back but I'm just trying to be realistic here."

"No. We can't think like that. Thor is coming back, he'll take his brother back to Asgard and all will be right in the world."

Bruce only stared and finally nodded, realizing that arguing was pointless.

"So," said Pepper, "What now?"

Tony looked at her and couldn't help but stare at the bandage around her head. It pained him to see that bandage, how dare Loki hurt her. He took a deep breath to control himself.

"Now I fix Jarvis, we get some rest, and tomorrow we'll get the band back together."

Bruce chuckled, "The band?"

"The Avengers. I'm sure Fury will want to call upon our services again because we all know how helpless he was last time, it's only a matter of time."

Bruce smiled, "I suppose that's true. But for now, let's get some rest."

* * *

And there you have it, Chapter 6! Dang, that chapter was harder to write than I thought. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it but don't worry, I do actually have a plan for where this is going.

Anyways, next chapter…Avengers Assemble!

Chapter title: …And Justice for All by Metallica

PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you.

See you all next week.


	7. Bars For My Brother

Hello readers! Thank you all to those who reviewed, favorite, and followed! You motivate me to keep writing.

Sorry it took so long for me to get this up, I truly am. I'm going to try and get as many chapters up in the next week and a half, however, for I'm going to be on vacation for ten days and know I won't get any writing done during that time.

Enjoy!

* * *

Thor walked through the halls of the palace alone, lost in thought and contemplating recent events. He couldn't help but think about his meeting with Sigyn and the words Narvi had said about Loki and how not everything is as it seems. Which then made him think about the last time he saw his brother before he disappeared. He looked so lost and broken, a wild gleam in his eyes that was dangerous. And yet, at the same time, there was heart ache present too which was expressed even more so at his tentative.

Mo chuisle.

It was a phrase that he had never heard before. It sounded Midgardian, however, but not of the same language as the one he knew that was spoken by his friends. Perhaps it was a language belonging to one of the other many different civilizations residing there. Maybe if he found out what the words meant he'd be able to figure out his brothers' motives.

In Thor's mindless wonderings, he found himself in the healing wing of the palace. This then brought Thor's thoughts to Loki's escape.

He had heard through his mother that Loki had chained the head healer Eir to his bed when escaping. Thor remembered the old woman from over the years, healing many of his wounds from the time of a small child. She was a kind woman and couldn't imagine the terror she must have endured in being attacked.

In a split second decision, Thor adjusted his course to head directly to the healing room in order to see Lady Eir and see how she was fairing. As he neared the rooms he knew she would be at, he heard the sounds of raised voices and laughter from warriors and healers.

Upon entering the healing room, Thor found many different warriors occupying beds and crowding around patients in beds. There were bandages around many of their heads or limbs while healers bustled from patient to patient tending to their wounds.

None of the warriors, however, seemed to be in any potentially fatal state. All of them, in fact, seemed to be in rather high spirits as they laughed and patted each other on their backs, recounting their most recent adventures.

That was when Thor remembered that today was the day that the one of the armies' parties sent out to Nidavellier to take care of some of the more rowdy groups of dark-elves bent on the destruction of Asgard, returned.

"Prince Thor! How good it is to see you!"

Thor turned around to the loud outburst that managed to reach his ears loud and clear despite the noise surrounding him. He turned to find Tyr, the leader of the party and one of Odin's most powerful and trusted generals, grinning at him and waving his arm.

Thor smiled at the sight of his old friend that he knew since he was a child. The two had always been close ever since they were young despite the age difference. Tyr was a couple centuries older than Thor which translated too many years for humans. While the two were not related in blood they were like brothers, which was probably why some stories told on Midgard said that Tyr had been one of Odin's children.

However, while the two were close and Thor looked up to the man as an older brother, Loki never seemed to like the warrior. The two always clashed in personality and opinions which caused many fights over the years. But despite their differences, the two still tolerated each other for the most part due to their forced companionship by their mutual friends.

Once Thor had gotten up close to Tyr's side he was able to get a better look at the man. His short dirty-blonde hair was in disarray and covered in dirt and blood, causing the color to look darker and almost black. His armor was missing in parts with scorch marks from magic having blasted holes down to the flesh. His left arm was being tended to by a healer who was repairing a nasty cut that penetrated straight down to the bone.

Tyr didn't pay no mind to the wounds though, smiling brightly at Thor, his dark brown eyes sparkling at the sight of his young friend.

"Tyr, my old friend! You look like a Bildshnipe ran right over you," Thor said as he clasped Tyr on the shoulder.

"Don't exaggerate Thor, I've been worse before."

"Oh yes, you must be referring to you incident with the Valkaryie that one time." Tyr's dirty face turned red which made Thor only grin wider at his friends' obvious embarrassment.

"I thought we agreed to never mention that again."

"Yes we did. But when it causes you such distress over being beaten by those women after you snuck into their quarters, I can't help but bring it up." Thor laughed at the look on Tyr's face that looked at the young healer with horror who snickered.

Tyr cleared his throat and fidgeted on the bed before turning back to Thor. "Yes well, that incident wasn't as bad as it seemed either. My men and I all got a little banged up on Nidavellier but it wasn't anything we could handle. We took care of those dark-elves no problem."

"As we knew you would."

"It appears, however, that while those pesky elves needed to be taught a lesson, we were needed back here at home." Tyr's formerly cheerful face turned serious as did Thor's.

"No, there is nothing that you could have done had you been here. You were needed on Nidavellier."

"Still, I wish I could have been there myself to finally have a go at that brother of yours." Thor shifted on his feet. There was such malice behind Tyr's words and while Thor wished Loki could have been caught he didn't think he would have liked the prospect of having Tyr there to be the one to do so due to his relationship with Loki.

"Prince Thor, what brings you to the healing room?" Thor turned around to find Lady Eir standing right behind him. While she looked composed and focused on her patients at hand, there were still underlying features present on her face indicating the stress and lack of sleep.

"Why he's here to welcome back my men and his old friend," cried Tyr enthusiastically. Eir walked up to relieve the healer attending to Tyr's wounds and took over herself. While Tyr didn't notice, Thor could tell the head healer was not pleased with the warriors overbearing personality as well as his rambunctious men.

"Actually my lady, I was here to see you."

"Oh," she said as she turned to her prince with a concerned look, "You have been injured?"

"No, no. I am fine. I just wanted to see how you were fairing since recent events." Eir turned back to her task at hand with a strained look. Her movements were stiff but otherwise she seemed completely absorbed by her job and calm.

"I am fine, my prince. I was not harmed during Prince Loki's escape."

"What, Loki? He attacked the healing room? Of all the low-down, dirty-"

"Tyr," Thor cut off the warrior, "He didn't attack the healing room, he was already here when he escaped. There was some sort of complication with his health and we brought him here to be taken care of."

"No doubt he faked his illness in order to escape and be free to hatch more nefarious schemes. Ow!" Tyr shouted and pulled his arm out of Eir's hands abruptly, clutching it to his chest. "Be careful! What sort of healer are you?"

"What sort of warrior are you, not being able to handle a little pain caused by an old woman's hands?" Eir calmly went about her business, not once looking at the general or indicating in any way she had be fazed by his words. Somehow, Thor believed that the harm Eir had caused Tyr was not entirely an accident if her attitude was any indication.

Tyr scowled which made Thor chuckle. "Well General, your arm seems to be well enough and should be back to normal in a couple weeks. All of your men seem to be in good enough shape as well and will be ready to go back to work and _leave_ my healing rooms in no time," said Eir.

"Thank Valhalla for that," grumbled Tyr underneath his breath. Thor smirked at his friend and if Lady Eir heard the man's words she made no indication she had.

The healer began to walk off to the back room and Thor made to follow. "It is good to see you back alive and well Tyr, but now I must leave you. I need to speak with Lady Eir."

"Good luck. Be careful, she might saw your arm off."

Thor shook his head at his friends' antics and walked through the door to the back room where Eir was located.

"Honestly my prince, I am well. I am grateful for your concern but Queen Frigga has already seen to my wellbeing."

"I know she has. The two of you being lifelong friends, I know she wouldn't have rested until she made sure you were fine. But I wanted to see to you myself and apologize for any misgivings my brother may have caused you." Eir offered Thor a small smile as she placed a gentle hand upon his arm.

"Truly, I am fine. Your brother did not hurt me."

"Physically maybe." Eir frowned at Thor. She walked slowly over to a chair and sat down, looking very old in that instant.

"I won't deny that things have been hard but it has been that way since your brother became lost." She took a deep sigh and paused before continuing. "I won't pretend that I feel the pain as deeply as you and your parents but I knew him since he was a child too. Ever since the day your father brought him home from Jotenheim I've cared for him as I did with you and Balder."

Thor furrowed his eyebrows. It was not a secret anymore, Loki's true origins, however, the way Eir spoke it was as if she knew the entire time. Eir saw Thor's confusion and smirked at the prince.

"Surely you must have realized that I knew of your brothers' true blood. I am the one to deliver all babies belonging to the royal family as well as any high ranking generals and advisors. Since your mother never gave birth to Loki of course I knew he was adopted. Your parents entrusted me with this information the day Odin returned from the war with the frost giants."

Thor sat in silence for a moment, contemplating this recent news. How could his parents tell Lady Eir of his brothers' true blood and not himself or Loki?

"I know what you're thinking," said Eir, "Why didn't your parents tell you?" Thor nodded at the old woman.

"I'm sure that is a question you have already asked your parents numerous times already, as have Heimdell and I." Thor gave her a confused look at this.

"Heimdell?"

Eir gave a small chuckle without humor, "Yes, there is not much that can get past the guardians eyes. Even if Odin didn't want to tell Heimdell, he would have figured out soon enough. The two of us were the only ones other than your parents who knew where Loki was truly from.

"While we believed that at first it was a wise choice to keep the truth from Loki, as he got older the lie did more harm than good. We tried to tell Odin that at least his sons should know the truth and keeping the secret from the public for the time being would be for the best, but he insisted that the time wasn't right."

Eir sighed, "Unfortunately neither was it after your coronation but sometimes the universe has other plans. Finding out the way he did I think was catastrophic but…" Eir trailed off almost as if she was afraid to continue. Thor sensed her nervousness and walked over to the woman to place a comforting hand upon her shoulder.

"What is it Lady Eir?"

"I have known you and your brothers your entire lives and feel as if I know the lot of you pretty well. Loki was always different and you didn't need the knowledge of his birth to know this was true. However, what Loki did to Jotenheim and on Midgard was something he would never have done," said Eir with deep sadness in her eyes.

"I thought so too. But obviously the both of us were wrong."

"He was always so carefree as a child, though and always stayed clear of violence."

"Even the most malicious of villains was once a gentle child. People change with time."

Eir starred at Thor with a shocked expression. "When did the rambunctious child I knew who ran around the lands looking for the next greatest adventure turn into such a wise young prince?"

Thor gave a small smile. "As I said, people change with time."

Eir gave a small nod and silence fell upon the two once again. Thor watched the healer as she rung her hands nervously as if there was more she wished to say but couldn't find the words.

"Please, my lady, continue with what you want to say."

Eir stared at the Prince until finally making a decision. "There is more. I must admit, while I was saddened by Loki's turn for the worse I did not question it. It wasn't until he escaped a couple days ago that I began to have doubts."

"What do you mean? You think he didn't commit those crimes?"

"Not exactly. What I mean is I don't think we know the entire story as to why he did what he did or fully know the man he is today.

"When he escaped and chained me to the bed, at first I was terrified. I thought I was going to die," said Eir, "He had just broken through the powerful magic your father used to enforce the chains that bonded him to the bed and many lives had already been lost due to his actions, what was stopping him from taking mine?

"But as I cried over what I believed to be my last moments he began to talk to me in a soothing voice, telling me that there was no reason to cry and whipping away my tears. He then proceeded to ask for my forgiveness before he left."

As Eir talked she began to grow more confident in her words and pinned Thor down with an intense gaze, trying to make the man understand what she was attempting to convey to him.

"Many others, such as Tyr out there, might say that he acted in such a way to only manipulate me, to try and make his escape easier. But believe me when I say this, there is more to this story. It might just be the sentimental side of me but I think there is still some of the little boy we both knew as a child left in him."

"I hope so," said Thor who sat quietly before a thought occurred to him.

"Eir, for as long as I've known you, you have always been one of the strongest and most protective people I know. Even if you were terrified when Loki attacked you, you would never have just sat there quietly as he prepared to go and potentially harm your healers as well as many others. You would have used your last moments alive to call out for help or at least try and stop him yourself, both of which you did not do," said Thor, "Eir, did you let my brother escape?"

The two stared at each other for a good long moment, neither of which moving a muscle. "The many long years I have lived, I have very few regrets that I carry. The biggest of which was that I, the goddess of healing, was unable to save your brother Balder from death. Not preventing your other brother from escaping, however, is not one of them."

Thor stood up quickly and began to pace the room after what Eir had just told him. This most recent development was worth telling his father about due to the security threat. Eir would surely lose her place as one of the main gods and healer as well as potentially be imprisoned.

"Are you going to turn me in?"

Thor turned to the woman and couldn't help but remember how she had cared for him as a child.

"Were you involved in any way in any of Loki's plans to attack Jotenheim and Midgard?"

"No, I did not even know about them until after that fact, the same as everyone else."

Thor looked her over with a critical eye to try and find any deceit. After having Loki as a brother and knowing Eir for such a long time he decided that he found none. With a deep sigh, Thor spoke, "Then no, I will not arrest you."

Eir smiled, "Thank you my Prince."

"You are welcome." Thor turned to leave before he was stopped.

"Thor," said Eir, "When you leave tomorrow to go after him once the Bifrost is complete, just please…have mercy on him."

Thor continued to walk without saying a single word.

* * *

The day after Loki had attacked Pepper, Tony found himself and Bruce inside one of SHIELD's many bases.

"Told you he wanted to get the band back together," said Tony. Bruce only shook his head at his friend and sat down at a chair in a large room. The two had been waiting in the room for several minutes after they had been dropped off there by some unknown agents.

"I'm all for reassembling the Avengers but really, how long is this going to take?" asked Tony. At that moment the doors opened and in walked Steve Rogers led by two agents.

"Well if it isn't the boy scout! We were wondering when you were going to finally show up."

Bruce got up and walked over to the other man to shake his hand as the two agents left. "Nice to see you again Steve."

"Likewise Bruce. What exactly is going on though? Fury called me and said Loki was back on Earth but that was it. Is he really?" asked Steve.

"Unfortunately, yes," said Tony, "He just showed up last night at my house. Thankfully Bruce showed up otherwise Pepper would have been all alone with that maniac while I was out of town on business. Speaking of which, you and I need to have a little talk."

Steve looked surprised. "Me? How could I help with any sort of business you have? And is now really the best time for this? Loki is back on Earth which is bad for many different reasons. How exactly did he get here? Where's-"

"-Thor? Is he all right?" cut off Tony. Steve only scowled at the man. "Yeah, we already went over all this last night. All very good questions but none of which we have an answer to."

"And actually, the business might have something to do with the matter at hand, we don't know really but there's something definitely amiss with SHIELDs council," said Tony, "Tell me 1940's, how many council members were there on SHIELD's council when you first were a part of it?"

"Uh, I don't know, five I think?" At this Tony clapped his hands together loudly and turned to Bruce, pointing at the man.

"I told you! Something's up!"

"Wait a second Tony. Steve, you know for a _fact_ there were five or are you just guessing?" asked Bruce.

"I don't know, I can't really remember. I never met the council members from my time nor did I really even know their names. I remember one time hearing Colonel Phillips and your dad Tony, talking about the council and its members, they either said there were four or five of them, but that's all I really remember."

"See Tony, there were either four or five members. This doesn't prove anything."

"What the hell, Bruce. Last night you were Mr. Cautious and now you want to give SHIELD the benefit of the doubt?"

"I'm still cautious; I just don't want to jump to conclusions. We need to find out more before we can know anything for sure."

Steve was watching the banter back-and-forth with his confusion only increasing. He tried to intervene but the two scientists only ignored the soldier until he shouted to get their attention. "You guys! What is going on?"

The two looked at each other. "Well for one, we don't trust SHIELD?" said Tony.

"Well after SHIELDs whole 'Phase 2' I'm too big on them either," said Steve, "But why are you guys all of a sudden acting as if there's some big conspiracy surrounding them?"

"Because there is!" shouted Tony.

"There _might_ be," corrected Bruce. "We don't know anything for sure, as we've already said, but we think SHIELD has been keeping secrets." At that Tony gave the man a look.

"Well, more secrets than a secret organization already keeps. We believe SHIELD has been lying to its members in order to cover up a conspiracy."

"Based on what evidence?" asked Steve.

"This," said Tony as he pulled out the picture from Mr. Boggess. He handed it to Steve who furrowed his eyebrows at the picture.

"Hey, I know that lady."

"What?!" shouted Tony as he took the picture back into his hands. "That woman, right there. The one with the blonde hair?"

"There aren't any other women in the picture are there?" asked Steve.

"Who is she? What's her name?"

"I don't really know who she was; she was definitely part of SHIELD though. I only ever met her once and it was very brief. It was while I was in training run by the SSR division to figure out a contestant for the Super Soldier program.

"Dr. Erskine introduced me to her as a Dr. Dande? Bande? Bandia? Yeah, I think that was it, Dr. Bandia was her name. She asked me a couple questions about myself before I was hauled off to go do more training."

"With such a short meeting how do you still remember her?" asked Bruce.

"Because the very next day Colonel Phillips and Dr. Erskine came to me and told me I had been chosen for the Super Soldier program," said Steve, "Right after I spoke to her I didn't think much about who she was. I could tell she was a person of importance but a lot of people there all seemed to be real important.

"It wasn't until after Erskine told me the news that I remembered her and how he seemed both nervous and excited when he introduced her to me. I had passed all tests he had had for me but talking to her was my last and most important one yet. It was like she was judging me and if she didn't approve, then I never would have become Captain America."

Tony mulled this information over in his head, thinking about the strange woman. He felt both excited and uncertain over the confirmation he got that she was a member of SHIELD. On one hand he was one step closer to figuring out the identity of the woman who plagued his dreams was, and on the other he didn't know if he wanted to know what person that was.

"Bandia," said Bruce more to himself than anything. "That sounds Gaelic."

Steve nodded, "That's what I thought. She doesn't look Irish though. I always thought she looked more Nordiac."

Bruce laughed. "Yeah, because Loki sure does with his black hair."

"Didn't Thor say he was adopted?" asked Steve.

"True. And I suppose the Norse didn't all look like complete clones, they had some diversity too."

"What does it matter what the Norse looked like," interrupted Tony. "We need to figure out who this woman is."

"Why?" asked Steve. "What was that picture?"

"I got it from a man who is a former member of SHIELDs council who also knew my father. This picture is of the 5th Council formed in 1957."

"Alright, she was part of SHIELD. We've already established that. What does it matter?" asked Steve.

"Because SHIELD has no record of this woman ever existing," said Bruce. "They've tried very hard to keep her a secret."

"Obviously they didn't ever anticipate that Captain America would return from the dead 70 years later," said Tony with a grin.

The sounds of agents running up and down the halls from the other side of the door reached the three men's ears, causing them to quiet down.

"What the hell is that?" asked Tony.

Just then the door burst open to revel Clint Barton with his bow in hand.

"Let me tell you, Fury couldn't have picked a better time to bring you three here," said Clint.

"What's going on?" asked Bruce.

"It's that bastard Loki," said Clint, "He's here on the base."

* * *

Dun, dun, DUN! Cliffhanger! What will happen next? What's Loki after? Is he still acting crazy? All very good questions but they will all have to wait and be answered until the next update.

Just some information if you don't know:

Tyr-Nordiac God of War

Eir-Nordiac Goddess of Healing

Dr. Abrahamn Erskine-The scientist who essentially created Captain America

Colonel Chester Phillips-Colonel in charge of Captain America and his team

SSR-Scientific Strategic Reserve (Part of SHIELD and seen in the Captain America movie in which Dr. Erskine formed for the Super Soldier program)

I'm going to try and give all the Avengers pretty big roles in this story. I know that didn't really happen with Clint in the Avengers movie and thus far neither has he really been in my story, but there is more to come and I hope I'll be able to integrate him more into my story. Obviously there will be more focus on a couple different characters, for example Tony, Thor, and Loki but everyone else I hope will have good enough parts as well.

Chapter title: Bars for My Brother by Lowkey

REVIEWS PLEASE!

See you all soon!


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